


Second Time Around

by gypsysue



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-24
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-08 10:22:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/442160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gypsysue/pseuds/gypsysue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy find their son Draco dead, his wings wrapped around the dead body of Harry Potter. They along with Severus will do what ever it takes to fix this mistake. Time Travel, Veela H/D Slash !badDumbledore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rewind

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> I have been plagued with the idea of a Harry Potter story, and decided it was time to get started on it. It will be slash, so be prepared.
> 
> I have sent the first two chapters to my beta Taloolahp for beta'ing, but am anxious so will probably post soon, and the replace the old version with the beta'ed one. A special thanks to Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her. Any and all mistakes are mine. Feel free to point them out. And please remember this story is going to be very AU. I'm changing everything with the time reset.

Narcissa Malfoy and her husband Lucius, stood over their dead son's body. It took a few minutes for them to realise that he was not alone, wrapped in the protection of his wings, was Harry Potter. Narcissa's broken sobs were interceded with the words, 'why,' and 'please Lucius, fix this.'

From the looks of it Lucius would say that Harry Potter had been dead for a week, while Draco had only just recently passed. It had taken that long to find them, and Lucius now realised the only reason they had was due to Draco's death.

Harry Potter looked badly beaten, like he had be tortured, and not just once. The scans Lucius ran showed he had been abused his whole life. He wondered why no-one put a stop to this travesty. Who was protecting The Boy Who lived.

Lucius ran from the room, heading for the Floo, kneeling down he threw in the powder and called for Severus. The man came through immediately when the name Harry Potter was mentioned.

"Lucius, we have been searching for him for over a week, tell me, where is he." Severus demanded.

"He's dead, Severus. He has been for a week or so it seems. Draco," Lucius turned away, his jaw clenched tight as he tried to get his emotions under control, there was no time for a break down, he had to fix this. "Draco, he is dead too. We aren't sure what happened, only that Draco is not responsible, he died of, he...Severus." It was too much, and Lucius collapsed into Severus' arms, his eyes filled with despair as he looked at his friend.

"Merlin," Severus exclaimed, when he realised what must have happened. He knew the Malfoy's were Veela, he knew the only reason Lucius took the dark mark was to save his family. Now, Draco and Harry Potter. "Merlin," he said again, this time in a whisper as the pieces fell into place.

"Give me a minute, Lucius, I need to grab a few potions from my lab, I will be right back," Severus said as he moved to the Floo. He ran to his lab, only to be stopped by Dumbledore.

"What is it Severus, what have you found out?" the old man asked. Severus turned at looked at the man that had started all of this, the man who had endangered Harry, from what it seems, his whole life. But he had no proof yet, that's why he needed the potion.

"Draco is dead, I have to leave, now." Severus almost hit the man when he smiled at that bit of news, but just kept running, leave the old man behind. He grabbed what he needed and then ran back to his office. He was glad to see that Dumbledore had gone. He Flooed back to Malfoy Manor and ran straight into Narcissa.

"What are you doing Severus?" She asked, her voice trembling with her grief.

"I am going to find out what happened to Mr Potter. I can not fix it, if I do not know the truth," he stated, and brushed passed her. He needed to concentrate.

Severus pour the potion over Harry, after he extracted the boy from the protective grasp of Draco, and waited. It was not long before a bubble appeared above the boys head, and his life from the moment he was born played out above them. They watch as he was born and loved with his parents, as he survived the killing curse. They watch as he was placed on the doorstep of those muggles, with nothing but a note to explain.

The watch as Harry was subjected to the cruellest of treatment from his supposed family. There were broken bones, bloody wounds, and no food for starters. They watch as the years progressed and the treatment got worse. They watched as Dumbledore turned a blind eye and encouraged everyone that Harry was just fine. They watched as Harry was put in danger again and again, and always on the outskirts of the memories was Dumbledore watching.

Narcissa howled in outrage as they watch Harry beg Dumbledore to save him from those despicable muggles, and she fell into the arms of Lucius as the man told Harry to stop making things up, all with that damn twinkle in his eye.

Finally they watched as on his sixteenth birthday Harry Potter was beaten and stabbed to death by his vicious Uncle. They watched as the last light left the boy, and they could see, the glint in his eye that said to them all, finally he was at peace.

Severus poured the liquid over Draco's body, and they watched his life roll on in front of them. His was full of happy memories and fun. Until the day he meet Harry. They watch the fights between the two, and now they could see the hidden tension in both boys. Time sped on as they watch Draco try to make his father proud. Narcissa looked at Lucius in this moment, when her son was crying about how he was never good enough, and shook her head.

"You will fix that too," she demanded as she moved away from the man. Then what they were waiting for happened.

They watched in horrid fascination as Draco appeared out of no-where, took one look at Harry, bend down to pick him up and realised he was dead. Draco screeched, and spun around, all humanity gone from his features as he ripped that family apart. No-one was spared his vicious treatment, and Severus found himself almost clapping.

They watched as Draco took Harry's remains to a hidden house, they watched as wards automatically raised and then they watched as Draco lay down with Harry in his arms and stopped all movement but to pet Harry's hair. The only words spoken where, "I will be with you soon, my love."

Narcissa dropped to the floor, her pain could be felt for miles around as she watched her son take his last breath with a smile on his face. "FIX IT," she screeched, startling the two men out of their own grief. Severus' mind was ticking over. Not only was he drenched in guilt about how he had treated Harry, how much more pain he had caused the poor boy. But he was disgusted in the people around him, who were suppose to love and protect him.

None of them, not even his best friends had come to his aid. They had all listened to Dumbledore. That was going to change. Severus took the memory of what he had just witnessed out and placed it in an unbreakable vile, he encouraged the Malfoy's to do the same.

"We will have to relive our younger days," Severus said matter of factly, startling the other two.

"Time travel? Severus it's not possible," Narcissa breathed out, though you could see by the look in her eyes that she was hopeful.

"It is. I have been working on the potion for some time, and finally perfected it two days ago," Severus looked down, his mind whirling with what he was giving up personally, "I was going to go back and save Lily."

"Severus, if you save Lily, Harry could die," Narcissa said, her hand at her mouth as she tired to regulate her breathing. Her one and only goal was to save her son, and in order to do that, Harry Potter must live.

"I realise that, Narcissa, and I realise that we must let it play out as it did, until the point Harry was taken from the wreckage. We must get their before Sirius goes after Peter. But first we must go back to before Lucius took the dark mark, and myself. I can slip the prophecy to someone else to give to the Dark Lord. The only time line we must change is Harry's. That way, we will know what the old man is going to do before he does it."

"With this potion, we will slip into our own bodies, but retain full memories. We shall meet at the Potter's in Godric Hallow on the 31st of October, 1981. Remember, change nothing but what you must, or you will be putting your son and Harry's lives in danger."

Lucius and Narcissa nodded, and smiled at each other. They could do this, they could get their son and his mate back and get Harry raised in a loving family, with the help of Narcissa's cousin, Sirius Black. "For the potion to work, you must think of the date and time you wish to go back to, tape the potion with your wand three times and drink it quickly," Severus said, "be well, do not loose your memories of the event, and be safe."

With that all three concentrated, tapped their potions with their wands, downed them and disappeared from sight. Harry and Draco, hovered just above their bodies, their arms wrapped around each other and smiled. "Maybe they can get it right this time," Harry whispered to Draco, before they two vanished.

Severus felt sick as he paced in front of the now destroyed Potter home. He was so close, he could have just reached out and grabbed Lily, pulling her away from that house. It was Lucius who had held him back, and it was Narcissa, who now held a sleeping Harry Potter in her arms, while she cleaned the wound on his head.

"Lucius, there is something different about this scar, can you see it," her Veela senses were picking up a foreign body in the boys scar, it was fresh and weak, but if left it would get strong on the boys magic and weaken him. They could not let that happen. Lucius gasped when he laid his hand over the scar.

"Abomination," he hissed as he pulled his hand away fast. At the looks Severus and Narcissa were giving him, he elaborated, "that monster left a part of himself in this boy," he spat out, trying to remember where he had left the soul stone, so he could remove it as quickly as possible before it was too strong and could resist the stone. They had 24 hours.

Before anyone could utter a word, Lucius popped away, and was back in seconds with the ruby red stone clutched firmly in his hand. "No," Narcissa whispered, horrified, her hand over her mouth. "Horcrux," she murmured so softly, Severus only just made out her voice and his knees buckled at what he heard. His mind raced furiously as it flashed back to that diary that possessed Ginny Weasley.

"He has more, I remember, that diary Lucius, the one you gave the Weasley girl." Lucius shuddered, he knew something was off with that diary, but when he had the dark mark his power had been muted, so unless he knew what he was looking for. He sighed.

"I will be able to track them easily this time around," he said as he lifted the sleeve of his left arm to show the smooth white skin, unblemished by that horrible tattoo. Severus, show his also and they both grinned. It had been hard work and lots of confundis charms and memory wipes to avoid the dark mark but they had managed.

Harry wiggled in Narcissa's arms, burying his face into her chest before settling back down. Narcissa's heart skipped at beat at the action, and in that moment, she fell a little in love with the messy haired boy, for more than just the fact he was her son's mate. She gently turned his head away from her, so that Lucius could reach the scar, and held on to him tightly. "Lucius," she said.

He got the message, and placed the soul stone over the boys scar, once in place he began chanting. "Ego vocote, quod non pertinet. Invocote in lapidem. Relinquo puero hoc ego vocote. Ego vocote, quod non pertinet. Invocote in lapidem. Relinquo puero hoc ego vocote." On the third chant, Lucius' voice rose as he felt the soul fragments fight lessen and black smoke started to pour from the child's wound, "EGO VOCOTE, QUOD NON PERTINET. INVOCOTE IN LAPIDEM. RELINQUO PUERO HOC EGO VOCOTE." With the last word, the last of the smoke entered the stone, and Lucius fell to his knees, sweat pouring from his face.

"If we had not done this now, even in 24 hours we would have been to late. I have never felt anything so strong in my whole life. The stone will not work on the others, we must fine a way to destroy them." Lucius said as he raised the stone above his head and smashed it against the ground. The stone shattered and an inhuman scream echoed through the night, angry black smoke raising, before it dissipated into nothing.

"Merlin," Severus muttered as he looked on in horror. "He left that thing inside the boy all those years," he whispered as he looked between Lucius and Narcissa, "I trusted him." Severus turned to the side and vomited. Years of his own torture and pain coming to the surface. He had thought he deserved such things, that he should suffer, but now, after all he had seen. Lucius banished the mess and cleaned Severus' robes, quickly and made no comment. He could understand what the man was feeling. A betrayal like that of Albus Dumbledore was horrendous, especially when you trusted the man with your very life, only to find out he care nothing for that sacrifice.

They were pulled out of their musing by a loud crack, and heard Sirius' voice, "James, Lily? Merlin no," he screamed, his voice cracking under the emotion. Narcissa looked at her husband and her best friend and nodded before walking out into view, baby Harry bundled in her arms protectively. It was time to begin.

Translation: I summon thee, what does not belong. I call thee into the stone. Leave this child, I summon thee.


	2. Sirius and Dobby

Sirius looked dumbfounded at the woman standing before him, but he snapped out of it when he saw the tuft of messy black hair sticking out of the baby blanket. Harry's baby blanket. Sirius had given it to Harry himself on the day the boy was born. He pulled his wand and took aim, but did not dare make a move in case he hit his godson.

"What are you doing here, cousin?" He sneered, "and why do you have Harry?" He moved forward, getting closer to her as he spoke, and realised that she let him. With in seconds though she was flanked by Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. Sirius' sneer became more prominent, "what are you doing here Death Eaters, I will not let you take Harry."

Malfoy and Snape, to his amazement, pulled up the sleeves on their left arm, showing the bare flesh and smirked as Sirius' mouth dropped open in amazement, "but Dumbledore said," he snapped his mouth shut when the three of them made a disconcerted noise in the back of their throats, and had matching looks of disgust on their faces.

"Dumbledore will cause Harry's death," Narcissa said her lips curled in disgusted, "I will not allow any harm to come to Harry." Her hand curled protectively around the boy and Sirius had to shake his head in amazement. "Come with us, we must leave now, before Hagrid gets here, and you do something stupid."

"Like last time," Sirius just heard Snape mutter. Sirius was in a daze, his mind working overtime, as he tried to come up with an explanation for what was going on. "Peter," he said, remembering that it had been the rat that had betrayed them all.

"No," Lucius said as he grabbed a hold of Sirius and stopped him from running off, "if you go after him, you condemn Harry to death." The words stopped Sirius cold. Harry was his responsibility, he was to take care of the boy, raise him and keep him safe should anything happen to Lily and James. He turned and looked at the three, their eyes held secrets, and hidden pain, that felt old, from long ago.

"What do you know?" he asked, eyeing them carefully.

"Many things," Narcissa spoke, her voice soft, "and we will share all with you, if you come with us now." At seeing the look on his face, Narcissa added, "we will give you a vow, that we will not harm Harry, ever, and we will not harm you, unless we are to protect ourselves."

Sirius nodded his head, the only thing allowing him to do this was the warnings of Harry's death. He gritted his teeth and took Lucius' arm, and just as they disappeared, they saw Hagrid come into view.

Sirius sat down heavily in a chair in the room they just landed in. He looked around curiously, while keeping his wand handy. It looked like a library of some kind, and he noticed that on one of the tables was a pensive. "Now that you have me here, what do you want?" Sirius asked, his voice sounded resigned.

"We want you to look at something, then we will answer any questions you have." Lucius helped Sirius to his feet and directed him to the pensive that held the memories of Harry's life, Draco's life and how the three of them came back in time to fix it. Narcissa held her breath as she waited to see if Sirius would enter the pensive or not.

She blew out her breath as he dipped his head into the liquid and watched as he disappeared into the memories. Narcissa, Lucius and Severus sat down, to wait. "Dobby," Lucius called, this time around he treated Dobby like he was the most precious elf in the world, as the memories of how he had tried to save Harry over and over played out in his memory.

"What can Dobby be doing for Master?" the elf asked, his little body vibrating with happiness at his Master calling for him. Dobby was also excited that he had been picked to help take care of Master Draco, he felt very important indeed.

"How is Draco?" Narcissa asked, and Dobby turned to her, beaming.

"Master Draco be doing very well, Mistress. Dobby just got him to sleep..." Dobby's voice cut off as he saw the little baby in his Mistress' arms. Narcissa seeing what had Dobby's attention, smiled at the little elf.

"Dobby, this is Harry Potter. He is very important to our family and as such we expect you to treat him that way." Dobby bounced on his toes as he tried to sneak closer to get a look at the baby. He felt a magical connection to the boy in his Mistress' arms and as he got close enough he reached out and ran a finger down the little boys cheek. Harry sighed softly in his sleep and leaned into the touch, as magic filled the room, connecting the two.

Everyone in the room froze as the elf magic filled the room and connected with Harry. Dobby looked around at everyone in the room, before looking back at the little boy, "Dobby is supposed to bes his," Dobby said in a small voice, "Master Harry Potter sir."

The Malfoy's were startled by this information, and wondered why, in the future, Dobby had not connected in such a way with the young boy. "Maybe it was because you abused the little creature to the point of insanity, Lucius," Severus said with a sneer, as he answered Lucius' unasked question.

Lucius could only nod his head, still ashamed of the actions he had taken the first time. "We will make it different this time," Narcissa said as she took hold of his hand and squeezed it in comfort before removing it to wrap around Harry once more.

"Could you tell us what just happened, Dobby?" Severus asked as the little elf stood, looked at Harry, his expression showing rapture.

"Dobby is being Harry Potter's sirs, it is the way it was supposed to be, before. Dobby is not sure he is understanding it all, sirs, but now, Dobby is bonded to Harry Potter. He must be with Master to take care of him and protect him from the bad mans."

"What bad mans, Dobby?" Lucius asked and then shook his head at his terrible grammar.

"The bad mans that tried to kill Master," Dobby said, "and the bad mans that will try to hurt Dobby's master, the mans with the beard and the need for Dobby's Masters power," Dobby said before he moved forward again and pushed Narcissa's hand aside, and laid his over Harry's chest. There was another glow and a popping sound as both Dobby and Harry were surrounded by a golden light, and then a snapping sound as the light between the Malfoy's and Dobby became visible and then broke apart.

"Dobby belongs only to Master Harry Potter now," Dobby said a huge smile on his face, until he looked his previous Master and Mistress, "Dobby is sorry to be leaving Miss and Sirs, but Dobby is where he supposed to be."

"That is quite alright Dobby," Narcissa said as she placed a kiss on the little boys head, "Harry needs all the love and support he can get, and he is lucky to have such a devoted elf. Make us proud Dobby and keep him safe." Dobby smiled as he pulled the blanket back around the little boy and then popped off, when Harry started to stir.

Dobby came back with a bottle and clean clothes, and with a snap of his fingers, his Master was in a fresh diaper and new outfit, and then he put his hands out to the Miss to take his Master and feed him.

"Would you mind, Dobby, if I fed Harry?" Dobby looked torn, but with a quick bob of his head, he handed the bottle over and stood close by to watch. Narcissa smiled at the little elf's actions, he would indeed keep Harry safe.

"Dobby is knowing that Master Harry Potter is to be with Master Draco," Dobby said as he watched over Narcissa as she feed his precious master. "Dobby is to be good elf for both Masters Harry and Draco, Dobby is." The little elf's head bobbed up and down as he spoke, agreeing with himself.

'How do you know this Dobby? And why is Draco still your Master." Narcissa asked as the other two in the room leaned in closer, intrigued.

"Oh no Miss, Dobby is not being Draco's elf now, but Dobby is being knowing that he will be, later. When Master Harry is being ready to mate, of course. Dobby will still listen to Master Draco and call him Master, but Master Harry will always be the first, that Dobby be taking care of. Dobby be knowing that Master Draco can be taking care of himself, he does. Master Draco will be strong, and will be taking great care of Dobby's Master he will." Dobby seemed to sigh at the thought, with a smile on his face, he continued to watch over his charge.

Both the Malfoy's and Severus were startled that the little elf knew so much, but figured it must be the bond between the boys. They had no clue how Dobby had bonded with Harry, though, or why. It was a mystery for another day, they all thought at the same time.

At that moment they heard Sirius as he stumbled out of the pensive, his face drained of colour as he slumped to the floor. Dobby, noticing the build up of anger in the new presence, stood in front of his Master, a clear shield covering all three of them as he watched the man cautiously. Dobby could feel the bonds between his Master and the strange man, but Dobby could see the anger rising in the man.

It was true, everyone in the room could feel the build up of anger and magic in the room, and Severus and Lucius followed Dobby's lead and erected shields just as the glass exploded around them. That seemed to snap Sirius out of his stupor, as he looked at the glass in horror and lifted his wand, Harry the only thing on his mind. But before he could so much as say a word, he watched as the glass bounced off the shield that surrounded the boy in Narcissa's arms, with a little elf standing in front of them protectively.

Dobby, raised his hand and snapped his fingers, causing all the glass to repair itself, and smiled in satisfaction to himself, for protecting his Master, before turning to the man. "You is not to be hurting Master Harry Potter."

Sirius looked confused, and then sneered when he saw Severus and Lucius trying not to laugh. It was then he remember the memory of Dobby saying something very similar to Lucius before he threw the man across the hall.

Lucius stood up and walked over to Sirius and offered him a hand up. He helped the poor man to a chair and called for another elf, "Pipsy."

"What can Pipsy be doing for Master?" the elf asked all the while peaking over at Dobby.

"Can you bring some tea, and some whiskey," Lucius asked.

"Yes, Master, right away Master," she said as she popped away. A few minutes later she was back with the tea service and the whiskey, along with glasses. She poured the tea, and the whiskey and then popped out.

Meanwhile, Harry had finished his bottle and was smiling at Dobby, while the elf was making faces at him, causing the little boy to giggle from time to time. Dobby was very pleased with himself.

Severus was watching Sirius as he watched Harry, guilt and anger where the prominent expressions on his face. "We have changed the future already, Black, so pull yourself together so we can make sure Harry does not have that life."

"How do we fix it, there is still a good chance I can go to Azkaban, if that's what Dumbledore wants, he thinks I was the secret keeper, and he will use that to get me out of the way." Sirius said, burying his face in his hands. It all seemed out of control to him. He was still not thinking as the memories played out in his head over and over again. He had been so stupid in the future. And even worse he had left Harry when he had fallen through the veil.

"That is were my connections come in handy, Mr Black," Lucius said as he stood up and walked over to the fire place. He picked up the floo powered and tossed some in before getting down on his knees and sticking his head in calling out, "Minister Fudges office." Lucius knew the man would be there, after what had happened, he only hoped he beat the old man there.

"Lucius, what can I do for you at this time of night," the Minister asked, he knew that Lucius was the reason he was in office and he would do everything in his power to give the man what he wanted or needed, if only to save his career.

"I would ask you to step through, Minister, I have something very important to discuss with you." Lucius said, his tone letting Fudge know it was urgent.

"Of course Lucius, just let me get rid of Albus and I will be right with you." Lucius swallowed hard, at the mention of the old goat.

"Is he there in your office now, Cornelius?" Lucius asked his voice icy.

"No, Lucius, my secretary just informed me he was here, I was going to see him, but of course you come first."

"Do not tell him it is me you are coming to see, bring the Head of the Auror department with you too." Lucius said and stepped back, leaving the connection open for them to come through.

It was only three minutes later that the Floo flared to life and Fudge stepped out, with Amelia Bones on his heals. They took one look at Sirius and Amelia pointed her wand at him, ready to cast a spell. She had already spoken to Albus and knew he was the secret keeper that had betrayed the Potters.

Sirius stood up, and walked over to Narcissa, placing a hand on her shoulder and directing every ones eyes to Harry. "I was not the secret keeper, Peter Pettigrew was. He was the one that betrayed Lily and James. I would die before I would betray my friends," he said forcefully. He then leaned down and ran his hands through Harry's hair. "Lucius, Narcissa and Severus rescued Harry, they were too late to save the Potters, but they saved my godson." Sirius voice broke as he finished speaking.

Amelia froze, she didn't know what to think. Albus had told her that she needed to arrest Black on sight and throw him in to Azkaban for what he did to the Potters, but if he was innocent then what was Albus playing at. Lucius stood and exchanged brief eye contact with Narcissa and Severus, receiving a small nod from both he lead the two over to the pensive. "This will answer all your questions," he said, and watched as the two looked at each other and then entered the pensive.


	3. The Minister of Helpfullness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized in later chapters that I used Pensive instead of Pensieve, I have not changed it until chapter 6 or 7 I believe. Also, since this is reposted from FF.net, I will say again here, this is AU I am changing almost everything.

"Do you know what you are doing?" Sirius asked as he watched the Minister and the Head of the Auror department disappeared into the pensive. Sirius was still shaking from the memories of his beloved godsons life. And he knew, after watching those memories and realising that the Malfoy's and Severus had saved him, that he owned them everything.

"Yes, Cornelius has always been onside but he is a bit, shall we say.." Lucius was cut off by Severus' "he is a coward, Lucius just say it." Lucius smirked at his friend, before continuing.

"Well yes, that would be the word for it, and as you saw in the future, he was a hindrance to us all with his refusal to believe Voldermort was back," at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, no-one in the room shuddered or made a sound. They had been using that name for a long time now, since they had travelled back in time

"We need him to listen, shut up and do as we say. He will be easier to handle when the truth is laid out for him, besides, he has always wanted to get at Dumbledore, now he can." Lucius finished.

"We really have to do something about that Umbridge woman, too," Narcissa said, her face scrunched up in distaste, "If she lays one finger on Harry." Narcissa even startled herself with the venom in her voice, even as she clutched the child closer to her.

"We have a lot to make right when it comes to the child," Severus stated.

"The first thing we must do is start to find all the Horcrux', maybe if we can find them before the Tri Wizard Tournament, which we must not let Harry be entered into, we can stop Voldermort from being resurrected at all." Sirius said, as he ran a hand through Harry's hair. The boy had fallen back to sleep in Narcissa's arms.

"Dobby should be taking Master and putting him to bed, Master is being needing his rest, Miss." Dobby said as he took his Master Harry from the Miss. "Dobby be putting Master Harry in the nursery with Master Draco he will," and he disappeared with a pop before anyone could say anything.

"Well, I dare say that Harry is in very good hands," came a voice from off to the side. All four occupants of the room spun around and watched as Amelia helped keep Cornelius from collapsing on the floor, her own face ashen from what she had just viewed in the pensive.

Cornelius looked up at everybody, his face held a greenish tint, and as he went to open his mouth to speak, he vomited. And for once in his life, he did not care that he had done such an embarrassing thing in front of these people. What he had just witnessed, he couldn't even begin to explain how vile it was, how utterly disgraceful. To use a child in such a way, to almost seem to encourage such actions.

To say the Minister was sickened and absolutely livid was an understatement. He wanted heads on sticks, he wanted revenge for that poor child, he wanted to get his hands on all the people who had caused that child pain and he wanted to inflicted it twice as bad.

The occupants of the room were stunned as Cornelius, the man they all thought to be a coward and weak, stood tall and firm. He banished the mess he made, cleaned himself up and faced the room, his eyes hardening as the memories played in the background of his mind.

"What ever needs to be done, consider it done," he stated firmly. "And this time around, when you tell me that Voldermort," he shuddered slightly at the name, even out of his own mouth, "has risen, I will declare it so. When you have a clear plan and use of me, all you need to do is say, and I will make it so. I only wish I could go after Dumbledore, but he has so far done nothing wrong." He then turned to Amelia, "Miss Bones, get all the paperwork filed for Sirius Black to become the adopted father of Harry Potter, make sure his name is cleared of any charges Dumbledore would try to pin on him, make Harry untouchable to that man. Do what ever it takes. Amelia will be back shortly with all the documentation, it will be pushed through, fast."

Everyone in the room was overwhelmed with the power that the Minister was radiating. 'Yes,' Lucius thought, 'he will be a great asset.' "Now if you will excuse me, I have an Under Secretary to fire," Cornelius finished, and he lead Amelia to the fire place and Flooed back to the Ministry.

"Well," Sirius, said, "I guess that was a good move. But I have one more person to track down."

"Ah yes, the werewolf," Severus sneered, "do try to keep him from attacking me this time, I've already avoided it this time around." At Sirius blank stare, Severus filled him in on the other time line where Sirius had set it up for Lupin to attack Severus and only James Potter had saved Severus' life. "At least I don't owe the man a life debt in this time line," Severus mused out loud.

Severus had changed a lot of things in his past, including the Mudblood incident, and he had managed to escape a lot of the pranks the Marauders tried to pull on him. "I always wondered how you, all of a sudden started to avoid our pranks," Sirius said, chuckling to himself, "well done Severus, well done indeed."

Severus smirked at the man, he had, had a lot of fun beating the Marauders at their own game, it had certainly made up for some of the pains from his past life. And at least he and Lily had been friends when she had died this time around. He always had that to cling on to.

"We have been keeping track of Lupin, as we knew he would be needed, but we did not dare approach him, without you. We must wait, once the papers are all done, I will leak it to the Daily Prophet, and then we can seek out Lupin," Lucius said. "For now all we can do, is wait."

Sirius looked at the clock on the Mantle and sighed, it was four in the morning, and he knew Harry would be waking up soon. "I would like to go sit with Harry, if that's okay, and we can discuss the rest in the morning. There is already so much that needs to sink in."

"That would be fine, I think we should all get some rest." Lucius said. "Severus you are welcome to your usual room," at Severus' slight nod, Lucius called Pipsy.

"How can Pipsy be serving you Master," the elf said bowing low.

"Can you show Severus to his usual room and let me know the minute someone Floo calls." Lucius said.

"Yes Master Malfoy sir," the elf said and turned to Severus, "this way Misters Snape."

Lucius chuckled at Severus' disgruntled look, before calling for Dobby and hoping the little elf would answer.

"Mister be calling for Dobby?" the little elf asked, "what can Dobby be doing for the kind sirs that is helping to look after Dobby's Master."

Lucius smiled at this, and answered, "could you please take Sirius Black, soon to be adopted father of Harry Potter, to the nursery, make sure the sofa bed is set up in there, in case he needs to sleep, if you would."

"Yes, sirs, Dobby been glad to help Master Harry Potters family sirs," and with that he took hold of Sirius and popped him into the nursery. "Dobby just be putting Master back to sleep, after Master had a terrible nightmare, he did. Dobby is chasing away the bad dreams of the bad mans that tried to kill his Master," the elf said as he pulled the blankets more firmly around his Master and tucked him in, pushing his hair off of his forehead.

"Curse scar," Sirius said as he noticed the lightening bolt shaped scar on Harry's head, and cringed. There was no getting rid of a curse scar.

"Dobby be hearing sirs and ma'am says, a part of the bad mans was in the scar, sirs, but sirs Malfoy got it out with the souls stone." Dobby said matter of factly as he continued to watch over his Master. "Dobby would have gotten it out, if sirs Malfoy had not, by going to the Goblins, he would have."

Sirius listened to the elf talk all the while wondering how he had ever trusted Albus Dumbledore, when they man had not only let his god son be abused, but had made sure Sirius had gone to jail so he could do so, and also left a part of Voldermort himself inside Harry. He needed Remus, and soon, as much as he was trusting the Malfoy's and Snape, there was still a part of him that needed someone else who was close to James and Lily, someone he could morn with and share all the secrets of them to Harry with. Someone to help him raise Harry, along with the Malfoy's and Snape.

For if he was sure of anything, it was that those three were to be a permanent fixture in his life now, and he could not argue that, nor would he stop it, because if it wasn't for those three, he would not be here, watching over Harry. He was still having trouble with the thought that he had abandoned little Harry and gone after that rat instead. His own selfish actions had a hand in what Dumbledore had put his god son through.

And to make matters worse he was going to repeat that mistake again. If it hadn't been for Lucius grabbing him, he was sure he would have. Remus had always told him he needed to think before he acted. Always told him, it was time to grow up and take on responsibility, but he had not listened, he had just run off like the stupid Gryffindor he was. It was then and there he decided that Harry needed to be more than that, he needed to be smart and cunning. He needed to be a Ravenclaw or, and Sirius gulped as the thought ran through his head, a Slytherin.

But he would do anything to keep Harry's past from repeating itself. Even if that meant bringing out the boys Slytherin side. All he knew for sure was that he had to protect Harry from Albus.

Sirius must have drifted off, because the next thing he knew, an elf was shaking him awake, "Misters Black must be waking up sirs, Master needs you down stairs," the little elf squeaked.

"I'm up, I'm up." Sirius grumbled, "what time is it?"

"It's being nine in the morning sirs," the elf said, "you are to be having fresh clothes in the bathroom, sirs, for you to freshen up. Just be calling Numsy, when you is being finished sir and Numsy will be taking you to Master Malfoy, sirs." The elf was just about to pop away when Sirius said, "wait, where is Harry?"

"Misters Harry is being with Master Draco and Dobby, sirs," the elf replied and popped away before Sirius could ask anything else. Sirius proceeded to shower and change as quickly as possible and then called for the elf, and was lead down to the same room they were in the night before.

"Ah, Sirius, so glad you could join us," Lucius said, "would you care for some tea? How about some food?" he asked.

"Some tea would be wonderful," Sirius said, "and I wouldn't say no to something to eat," he added. "where is Harry?"

"Harry and Draco are in the playroom, Sirius. Dobby is watching over them like a hawk, no need to worry." Narcissa said and then smiled sadly, "Harry asked for his mama," she added, her eyes glistening.

"We will make sure he has a wonderful childhood, dear," Lucius said as he grabbed hold of his wife's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She nodded to him, and turned back to Sirius.

"You should have heard them earlier, Sirius," Narcissa said her face lighting up with joy, "they were playing and laughing. Harry makes the cutest giggling sounds." Sirius smiled at the way his cousin was describing Harry. He remembered all too well that excited giggle he would make when he was enjoying himself. Sirius himself had often been the cause for that wonderful noise as he played with Harry as Padfoot.

He grinned at the thought of turning into Padfoot for Harry later, and listening to him giggle and try to pronounce his name only to say, 'Pafoo.' Sirius was brought out of his musing by the pop of the house elf, who delivered his tea and breakfast, and he tucked in while Lucius informed him of what was going on.

"We told Dobby to let you sleep, you looked exhausted, you still do," Lucius said, and continued on before Sirius could interrupt, "Cornelius Flooed us earlier, to let us know that Amelia was just finishing the last of the paperwork and would be by shortly to get your signature on a few documents, before they are officially filed. Apparently Dumbledore has been making a scene at the Ministry demanding your arrest and for Harry Potter to be given to his rightful relatives, the Dursleys." They all scowled at this information.

"Cornelius, much smarter than I gave him credit for that man," Lucius mused before getting to the point, "had the foresight to send a couple of Auror's to Number 4 and asked the Dursely's if they would want to raise Harry, to which they slammed the door in their faces after stating, "we don't want anything to do with that freak, or any of you freaks." Lucius said.

"Why would he need to do that, the Potter Will would be all that was needed," Lucius raised his hand to cut in.

"Yes, we know, but Cornelius wanted to cover every basis. Albus was trying to block the reading of the Will, it was one of the reasons he was anxious to see Cornelius last night. But the Will will be executed the minute all your paperwork goes through, to clear your name. Then it will be just a matter of hearing the Will and finalising the adoption paperwork. That is, if you still want to?"

"Of course I want to. Though I will still have to figure out where we will live, I don't think my mothers house will be fit, probably the best bet will be Potter Manor, or one of the other smaller houses..." Sirius stopped at the looks on the Malfoy's faces, "what?"

"Are you telling me, that Harry Potter, had money and property?" Lucius asked his voice scathing. At that moment Severus came through the Floo and started at the tension in the room.

"What's going on?" he asked, "are Harry and Draco alright?"

"Yes, but it seems that Harry Potter was more than just abused, he was cheated out of his inheritance." Lucius said, his face twisted in disgust.

"What inheritance?" Severus asked, "Albus said Harry only had the one vault that his parents left him, there was a fair amount of gold in there, enough to last him a while."

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, "are you telling me that I was so far gone, I never said anything about Harry's inheritance? I spoke to him about living with me, I saw it in the memories...ohhh I never said where, which means, what happened to the Will the last time, and all of Harry's possessions?"

"My guess would be Dumbledore," Severus said, "I always wondered where he got all the money to fund his activities, he was not a well off man. Now I guess not only did he leave Harry to rot, he used his money too."

"I will kill that bastard," Sirius said as he jumped up from his seat. Again he was cut off by the Floo flaring to life and Amelia stepping through.

"Amelia, welcome, would you like some tea, you look exhausted." Narcissa said as she offered the woman a chair.

"Yes please, I would kill for some tea," she said as she took a seat and then accepted a cup. She took a long sip and sighed as the warm liquid ran down her throat. "Bliss," she said. "Okay, Sirius, I just need you to sign these papers, where the X is." Amelia handed the papers over and continued to sip her tea, while Sirius read and signed the papers, once he was finished the papers disappeared with a small pop.

"That's that, you are now a free man, the Goblins would have been alerted as soon as the paperwork was filed and if I'm not mistaken, you should be hearing from them very soon about the reading of the Will. Cornelius himself went and had a private word with the head Goblin, to make sure it was done post hast." She smiled to herself, finally glad that the Minister was stepping up and doing his job.

"Excellent," Lucius said. "Now we can start fixing all the mistakes of the past."


	4. Babies Goblins and Dumbledore

The rest of the morning was spent making plans and playing with the boys. Sirius had changed into Padfoot, much to both of the children's delight.

"Pafoo, Pafoo," Harry squealed as he used Sirius to stand up, pulling on his fur, and then tried to wrap his tiny arms around Sirius' large canine neck. Giggling all the while, as his face kept falling into the dogs fur. "Ook Dao, Pafoo," Harry exclaimed to the adorable blond boy, who had crawled over and was trying to lift himself, just like Harry, on Sirius' other side.

"Pafoo," Draco yelled and then let go to clap and proceeded to fall on his bottom. Harry dropped to his knees and crawled over to his friend and hugged him tight as Draco let out a choked off noise of pain and sniffled as he tried not to cry in front of his friend. Draco flung his arms around his friend and held on tight, and then giggled as Harry babbled in his ear.

"Pafoo, Dao, Pafoo," Harry said again as he pulled back from Draco and the boys again began to play with the dog. Narcissa couldn't tell who was having more fun, the boys or Sirius, and she knew in that moment he would be a very loving and playful father to Harry.

Dobby popped into the room with clothes for Harry, and said, "Master Harry is to be getting ready now, Mister Sirius must be doing so also. The Goblins are be asking for Sir and Master to be going to meet with them." Dobby said and moved over to Harry and scooped him up. He carried Harry into the bathroom and snapped his fingers, creating a tiny tub inside the big bathtub, filling it with a small amount of water and then bathing his Master, and washing his hair. When Dobby was done, he dried his Master with a soft towel, since he knew it always felt better than using magic to get dry and them dressed him with a click of his fingers.

Babies were always hard to dress if you did it by hand, so Dobby always used magic for that part, and for diaper's, because they just smelled really bad. Dobby giggled to himself at that thought, as he ran a comb through his Master's hair gently, and giggled again when the messy mop would not sit in place. "Master is going to be having a lot of trouble with his hair, Master is," Dobby said to Harry as he continued to float the boy in front of him and brush out his wayward locks. Big green eyes were blinking back at him as the little boy smiled at his elf.

"Dobbsy, Dobbsy," Harry yelled as he clapped his hands, "Habby, lubs hibs Dobbsy," the little boy giggled as he continued to clap. Dobby's eyes filled with tears as he plucked the floating boy out of the air and held him close.

"Yous Dobby wills always be taking cares of yous Master Harry," the elf said smiling happily at his young charge.

"Yay," the little boy said, and giggled some more as he reached up and grabbed hold of the elf's nose, trying to pull it down into his mouth.

"Master Harry must not bes trying to eat Dobby's noses, no he must nots," Dobby said laughing and waggling a finger at his Master. Harry let go of the nose and grabbed hold of the finger, sticking it in his mouth and chomping down. Dobby held back a grimace, as young Harry started to chew but allowed his Master to continue as he walked them into the other room, where the others were waiting.

Sirius laughed as he saw Harry chewing on Dobby's finger while the poor elf was trying not to let it show how much it hurt. Arranging his face into a stern look, Sirius walked over and pulled the poor elf's finger out of Harry's mouth, "Harry you must not chew on Dobby, you will hurt him," Sirius said, and watched as Harry's eyes filled with tears.

Sirius took the boy from Dobby's arms and held him close, running his fingers through Harry's dark locks. "Now none of that, Harry, you just have to be more careful, you don't want to make Dobby cry do you?" Sirius asked.

Harry sniffled and shook his head, "Habby lubs Dobbsy," Harry said, and looked over to give the elf a watery smile.

"Dobby loves his Master Harry, yes hes does," the elf said bobbing his head, his ears flapping with his enthusiasm causing Harry to giggle. "Now Master Harry bes needing his face washed he does, and thens we be having to leaves we do."

Dobby took care of cleaning up Harry's face and then they all went down to the library. "Who will be going to the reading of the Will?" Sirius asked, as he hugged Harry to his chest.

"Only the people that are in the Will may go, that would be you Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Severus Snape, Harry" Lucius said as he read the names on the parchment and then swallowed hard as he read the last, "and Albus Dumbledore."

Severus shuffled his feet nervously as he heard Albus' name read out. He and Lily had many conversations about the old fool, once he had come back in time. Subtle hints about Dumbledore's strange behaviour, the way he looked at people as expendable. Also the way he seemed to make you feel like you needed to give towards the cause, "funding a war is not easy," he would say with that damn twinkle in his eye.

Lucius was watching Severus closely, "what did you do?" he scowled, praying to God the man didn't make any unnecessary changes to the future that would see his son and Harry dead.

"Nothing, just a few hints here and there, I was very subtle. I am Slytherin after all," Severus snapped back. "I had to make sure the old goat did not get an opening in their will. It was never read the first time around, after all."

"Lily wasn't stupid," Sirius said, "she never really trusted Dumbledore, she said he was too interested in the wrong things. She could never abide how he would just sit back and barely punish us when we did some really horrible things. We thought she was crazy, and we were just glad we could get away with so much, we never gave it much thought."

"Yes, well, now you know better," Severus sneered.

"Severus," Lucius spoke his voice soothing, "the past is the past, and besides, you have not told Sirius all the things you did for revenge, yet." Lucius chuckled as Severus' mouth twitched up at the sides.

"Indeed," he replied, he would have fun with those, as time went on. What they were doing in the past was important, more important that anything else, but Severus still decided that he could change a bit of his own destiny along the way. As long as it was subtle and didn't catch anyone's attention, and he avoided that dreaded Dark Mark.

Sirius was spluttering in the background as he listened to the two men, he was dying to know what Severus had done to change things. Then a thought came to Sirius, "Hey wasn't there a nickname we used to call you? Sniv..." Sirius yelped, his hands going to his ass as he tried in vain to pull his pants out of the crack. How the hell had he gotten a wedgie and what was he about to say. The thought slipped from his mind and as he lost the trail of the thought he was able to pull his pants out of his butt.

He looked suspiciously at Severus and Lucius who were outright laughing, and then to Narcissa who had her hand over her mouth as her shoulder shook with her own mirth. "What the heck was that?" Sirius asked.

"That," Severus sneered, "was just one of my many, many plots of revenge for the Marauders despicable behaviour towards me, in the past." That caused Narcissa to actually laugh out loud.

"Oh Severus, that is just perfect," she giggled, and when Sirius gave her a disapproving look she just glared right back and said, "you deserved it, cousin."

"How can I deserve something I have no memory of?" he asked, baffled and rather annoyed at the whole thing. The others just laughed at his expression.

The clock struck one, and Dobby popped in with Harry, while Severus and Sirius got up and ready to go. Severus put his hands in his robes and pulled out two bottles of potions, and handed one to Sirius, "drink this," he commanded, "it will protect you from being Obliviated," he said to Sirius' expression.

"No need to be drinking nasty potions, Sirs, Dobby is being able to protect yous from any and all wizarding magic, as long as it to protect his Master Harry Potter, Sirs," the elf said, again his ears flapped as he nodded his head, causing Harry to giggle, and grab for them.

"Elf's can do that?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, Sirs, elf's is being able to do what ever it takes to be protecting their Masters, Sirs," Dobby said.

"Well that will come in handy, considering I had to make this potion to stop the headmaster from trying to wipe my memory a few times," Severus said, sounding somewhat relieved.

"Dobby can be keeping Sirs safe from the Dumbleydores, no needs to worries, Sirs, Dobby can be protecting you from two of the threes of the, unforgivable's he can bes," Dobby scrunched up his face, deep in thought and then muttered to himself, "Dobby is not sures why he cans be doing this, as other elf's can'ts be doing so, maybe it is because they don'ts be having the wonderful, powerfuls, Harry Potter as theirs Master."

Severus and Lucius shared a look, both saying without words, that they would have to figure out what was happening with Dobby.

Severus, Sirius, Dobby and Harry, stepped through the Floo, and thanks to the Minister and the head Goblin, they were able to Floo directly into the meeting room at the bank. This was unheard of for Goblins to allow such things, so they were all wondering again why this was happening. They were greeted by Ragnok, the Head Goblin.

"This way, please take a seat," Ragnok said, "we are just waiting for Albus Dumbledore," he sneered the name, "to appear. When he gets here, I will need a small amount of blood from young Mr Potter, to verify who his is, the Will, will only open with blood."

"Dobby will be getting that for the Goblin, Dobby will not allow anyone to hurt his Master, no he won't." The Goblin seemed to smile at this, though it looked rather scary, Sirius thought.

At that moment there was a knock on the door and another Goblin, lead in Albus Dumbledore. "Thank you Griphook, that will be all," Ragnok said. Griphook bowed and then left the room without a word.

Dumbledore seemed to take in his surroundings, and then his eyes settled on Harry, and an almost greedy look came over his face, before he quickly smothered it. That look was not lost on the other occupants of the room.

"Please be seated," Ragnok said, as privacy wards went up and around the walls of the small office. "We are all here to witness the reading of the Potter Will, Dobby if you please." Dobby stood and took Harry from Sirius' arms, he walked over to the desk, where Ragnok held out the thick parchment with the Potter seal. Dobby waved his hand over little Harry's finger and a small drop of blood hit the seal. The light was so bright as the blood vanished into the seal and with a snap the seal broke and the light ceased.

Dumbledore was a bit annoyed at the stupid elf, if they had done it the wizard way, he was sure he could have stolen a bit of the boy's blood. He was being stopped at every turn, trying to get a hold of the damn child, and he was getting more and more aggravated as time went on. He was also annoyed that he had not been able to stop the Will from being read, at least he still had the keys to the vaults.

Ragnok cleared his throat and started to read, "I, James Potter, do hereby declare this to be my true last Will and Testament..." Sirius' mind started to drift as the Goblin read through all the preliminary, and totally boring stuff, that certified that both Lily and James were in their right mind and this is what they wanted. His thoughts were running through the memories of his godson again, and all he was made to suffer, and he felt himself starting to growl.

Severus elbowed the damn mutt, harder than was necessary to get his attention just as Ragnok got to the important stuff, "all monetary, properties and holdings are to go to our son Harry James Potter, to be put in trust until he comes of age. Vault 689 is to be used to pay for all of Harry's needs, up to and including his daily upkeep and schooling at the school of his and his godfather, Sirius Blacks choice. Harry Potter is to be put in the care of his Godfather, Sirius Orion Black, without interference or disruption. Let it be know for all, that Sirius Orion Black, was NOT the secret keeper for our family. It was Peter Pettigrew, who is a rat Animagus. Let it be known that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was told of this change, and if he has done nothing to clear Sirius Orion Black, he be from this day forward, forever known as enemy to the Potter line."

Gasps were heard from all in the room as Ragnok, stopped and looked up at his audience, "Mister Dumbledore, as enemy to the Potter line you are hereby removed from this reading, and are to have no contact with Harry James Potter. It is stated that when it comes time for Harry James Potter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you will have no contact with the child and all dealings with him, will be made through Professor Filius Flitwick, so states, Lily Evans Potter. If you go against any of these rulings you will be removed as Headmaster and sentenced to two years in Azkaban. That is all." With that he clicked his fingers and Griphook entered the room, "please escort Mister Dumbledore from the bank."

As Dumbledore was lead out of the room, Sirius turned to Severus and whispered, "did you have anything to do with that?" Severus just inclined his head slightly and sighed in relief that Lily had actually listened to his recommendation.


	5. The Defection of Fawkes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> A special thanks to Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her. Any and all mistakes are mine. Feel free to point them out. And please remember this story is going to be very AU. I'm changing everything with the time reset. Updates might start to slow down from here, as chapter 6 has only 129 words so far. lol
> 
> I started a Yahoo group for my fics and conversation and whatever else. So feel free to join up. http: / groups .yahoo. com/ group / gypsysue/

Dumbledore was furious, he could not understand how everything had gone so wrong. All that had to be done, was for Harry to be taken from the wreckage and taken to the Dursleys, where he could hide him away, until it was time to start Hogwarts.

He knew the Durselys were the worst kind of muggles, that muggles like them were the reason he wanted to wipe them out, but he needed his weapon to be pliable, grateful. Putting up with a little hardship never hurt anyone.

And now those damn Slytherins had spoiled everything. He knew he should have tried harder to get Severus away from Lily, but he was just so sure that Severus was a Death Eater, just like Narcissa and Lucius. Now they had somehow managed to help Sirius and get him onside, and with that, had control over Harry Potter, beacon for the light.

Well this just wouldn't do at all. He had a lot of planning to do, he had to find a way around those damn restrictions. Fudge was absolutely no good, how he got into power so early was beyond him but he knew it had something to do with Malfoy. Nobody even knew he was going to run against Millicent Bagnold, and Dumbledore was more surprised that Fudge managed to win.

Dumbledore was also very curious how they had managed to achieve so much so young. Money was a big influence, but how was he getting around Abraxas, who was a known supporter of Pure-blood rights. He was sure the man would insist that his son follow Voldermort.

The only good bit of news he had was that Flitwick had been named as Harry's school guardian. He would be able to control the boy through Filius he was sure of it. He also planned to look in to the validity of the Will, since he was positive that Lily and James would never had written such things.

Albus also spent a little time cursing himself, at the push he made for Sirius' arrest, he had no idea that the Will would state that he knew Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. He was also sure that Sirius would have gone off half cocked after Peter, leaving Harry for Hagrid. He did not count on Narcissa, Severus and Lucius getting in the way.

Looking back, he couldn't understand how Severus had not turned to the Death Eaters, his home life was atrocious and Albus himself did the best he could, encouraging the Marauders to prank the boy with, he would admit, most of the time, horrendous pranks. But they all seemed to taper off in the last few years of school, and he always remained close with Lily, no matter how many subtle hints he threw her way. It actually seemed the more he tried to guide Lily's behaviour the closer she became to the boy.

At least he had his staff on side, and the Order to help him along his way. He was sure Harry would follow in his father and mothers footsteps and be a Gryffindor, with fool hardy bravery. Now all he had to do was wait until the boy turned eleven and prepare some tasks to test the boy's limits. He was sure that even though they seemed to be interfering now, the Malfoy's and Severus would lose interest when the Dark Lord returned and Harry would need someone to turn to, and maybe utter a few I told you so's to Sirius. Still it would be a good idea to figure out why they are involved in the first place, that would be the key to everything.

Dumbledore stroked his beard as he stood in front of the window over looking the Hogwart's grounds, and therefore could not see Fawkes narrowing his beady black eyes at the man's back. He did garner the man's attention when the bird gave out an indignant squawk and disappeared in a burst of flames. The Phoenix would no longer be a part of Dumbledore's misdoings, he would find a worthy companion when the time was right, until then he would run free.

The Headmaster's surprise was wiped away when he fell to his knees, pain coursed through him as he was surrounded in fire and light. He could hear voices in his head, the sounds were harsh and it took him a while to make out what was being said over the pain. "We only serve the light, we only serve the worthy," was repeated over and over again until a bang rang out in the office and Albus Dumbledore was thrown across the room.

When Albus came to, he noticed that all his gadgets where missing. He jumped up and checked his draw where he kept Harry Potter's possessions and vault keys, only to find they too were missing. Slamming his fist down on to the table, the twinkling the old man was famous for died and the true visage of the old man was finally seen. All the portraits fled at the sight.

After the reading of the Will, which was fairly basic after the headmaster had left, there were properties to look over, house elves to check on and financials to go over, which Sirius decided to leave up to the Goblin who was already in charge but have Lucius go over everything. Lucius, after all, was a genius when it came to finances and Sirius knew that the blond would want Harry Potter to be very successful, considering Draco would be mated with the boy.

Sirius couldn't help but smile at how fate had thrown its hand in the boys life. First time around his life had been nothing but pain and misery, only to end with a Veela mate, moments too late. Sirius was very happy that Draco was that mate, and his parents loved their son more than anything in the world. It was Harry's only hope.

Severus, Sirius, Lucius and Narcissa were sitting around discussing which property would be the best for them to move into,and how to get the missing vault keys, when there was a sudden flash of light, and Sirius looked down when he felt pressure on his lap. He gaped in surprise as he held up a photo album of Lily, James and Harry, James invisibility cloak and odds and ends that he remembered being in their home in Godric Hollow. He also found a small pouch and when he opened it, there was the keys to a vaults. He picked one up and the number 689 etched on the side and he jingled the bag. It was the missing keys the Goblins could not locate, the ones that they discovered at the end of the meeting that had been taken and were placed under so many protections the Goblins said it would be days before they could locate and retrieve them.

Suddenly a loud squawk filled the air and the group looked over to see Fawkes sitting on the back of a chair by the door. He nodded his head once as he looked at them then turned when he heard a pop. Dobby entered holding Harry and Draco's hands. When Fawkes saw Harry he flew over and landed directly in front of the child, and Harry squealed in delight as he pulled free from Dobby and waddled forwards, arms outstretched. Everyone in the room held their breath as Harry embedded his hands in Fawkes' feathers, and they were astounded when the bird allowed Harry's rough treatment.

Fawkes trilled at the little boy and Harry plopped down onto his bottom and stared wide eyed at the beautiful bird. The Phoenix lowered its head and rubbed its cheek against Harry's while continuing to trill then shifted slightly as Draco dropped down beside Harry and reached for the bird too. The two toddlers played with Fawkes for a good ten minutes while the adults watched on with slight alarm, until Dobby spoke up, "oh Mister Dumblydores dids a very bads thing he dids, light bird has severed its bonds it has. Lovely bird wishes to bes with Dobby's master, buts hes cannots be doing that until Master is old enoughs to says yes to birds." Dobby's ears flapped as he spoke, and he bounced on his toes with excitement, "Dobby's master must bes very good and very strongs indeeds for Phoenix bird to wants him, yes he must."

Fawkes turned his attention away from the toddlers and flew up to land on the table between the adults, looking at each of them in turn. Each one of them squirmed uncomfortably as the bird seemed to look directly into their souls and then trilled at each one, before flying up and landing on Severus' shoulder. The bird trilled again, in Dobby's direction, and the elf clapped his little hands while bouncing on his toes.

"Oh yes Fawkes, I be telling. Fawkes says he will be visiting froms times to times for checking on Master Harry. When he's be comings to stays he is saying that Severus is to be taking care of him. Severus is to be going to be living with young Master and Misters Black sirs."

"How is it you can understand Fawkes Dobby?" Lucius asked while trying not to laugh at Severus' expression.

"Dobby is not being sure sirs, other than Dobby can be doing things that his Master can be doing." The little elf shrugged and moved off to check on the boys. Lucius nodded and then shook his head as the words actually sunk in.

"You mean to say that Harry can talk to animals?"

"Fawkes says that Master Harry can be talking to most creatures sirs, Fakwes says its an ability hes be getting from his fathers sides of the familys sirs. He be sayings that this time arounds, the bad mans Headmaster dids not gets to Master sirs, to binds his abilities. This times arounds Harry Potter will be at his strongest. Fawkes says yous will be ins for many great surprises, yous wills."

Fawkes trilled loudly and bobbed his head up and down, before he flew over and nuzzled Harry one more time, and then disappeared in a flash of fire, leaving behind gob smacked adults. Until Sirius broke the tension. "So I guess you and me will be raising Harry together hey Snape," and all three laughed at Severus' sour expression.

"It will be a pleasure to help raise the child, and I suppose," he paused dramatically, "I can put up with you, if I must." Sirius laughed and then looked over the properties they had to choose from.

"Well I guess Potter Manor would be best then, since it's larger than Malfoy Manor so you will have plenty of places to be alone. Potter manor held 24 bedroom suites, 3 dinning rooms, 30 bathrooms, 2 ballrooms, 2 music rooms, 3 duelling rooms, and to Severus' great surprises 2 potions labs. There were greeting rooms and tea rooms, sun rooms and a couple of kitchens, one for the family and one for the help. The parchment holding the details also stated that there was a quiddich pitch and stables and the property had a staff of 12 house elves.

"How do we get around the wards," Sirius asked, and Severus rolled his eyes.

"Blood," he said snidely, "which is why the headmaster was so intent on getting Harry's. With his blood he would have access to everything, his vaults, his properties, all of it. It was the reason we banished the blood and bodies from Godric Hollow. He could have done a lot of damage with James' blood, until he was declared dead, but with Harry's blood, he could have completely wiped out the Potter fortune. Which he must have done last time around."

Sirius' hands clenched so tightly the parchment he was holding tore under the stress. Narcissa patted him on the hand and whispered softly, "he will not succeed this time around, we will all see to that. Just look at the boys, look how happy they are. We will make sure Harry is well protected and cared for. Do not worry, cousin."

He smiled softly at her and nodded his head. Yes they would do it right this time. "Lucius, you will take care of the investments, look them over and make sure the people running the accounts are doing a good job, yes? It might be best if we switch them over to your people though, at least we know they are not working secretly for Dumbledore."

"Yes that would be a very good idea, I will get it done immediately. Harry will be a Malfoy one day, he must have the best." Lucius said haughtily, with a smirk on his face.

"You are enjoying that fact Lucius, that the boy who lived with be a Malfoy?" Severus asked with a knowing smirk, Lucius nodded and smiled widely.

"Oh yes you have no idea how much that tickles me. My only regret is not realising this the first time around." His eyes took on a haunted expression as he remembered his son holding a broken Harry Potter. He shook his head to try to erase the memory, "we will get it right this time," he said softly, before exiting the room, to get started on Harry's fortune.

"We should go and check out this property, and talk to the elves about the other properties and about their maintenance. Dobby?" Sirius asked.

"Yes sirs?" the elf replied.

"Who is the head elf?"

"That would be mes sirs," Dobby said excitedly. "I's will be needings my uniforms too sirs, once we get to Potter Manor. Dobby must be dressing the parts sirs." Sirius laughed at the excitable elf.

"Of course Dobby," he turned to look at Severus, "are you ready?" he asked, then turned to Narcissa, "would you care to join us, cousin?"

Both replied "yes" at the same time, and Sirius scooped up Harry, while Narcissa picked up Draco, and all three adults grabbed hold of Dobby while he popped them to the Manor.


	6. The Return of Remus Lupin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> A special thanks to Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her.

The group landed outside the gates of Potter Manor. Dobby stepped forward and took hold of Harry and put him down then grabbed his hand and lead Harry to the gate, he then levitated the little boy until he was level with the Potter Crest in the centre of the gate. Dobby then snapped his fingers and Harry's finger was pricked, but the boy felt no pain, Dobby then moved Harry's hand so that the blood hit the Crest.

A bright light filled the space, as the magic flowed into Harry and then the gate snapped open. Harry giggled as he was lowered back down, "fun, fun, again, again," he squealed and clapped his hands together, the pin prick now completely healed. Sirius shook his head and laughed at the little boy's antics, while Draco could be heard giggling behind him.

The trek up the path was a long one, and Sirius couldn't wait until they were keyed into the wards so they could apparate straight into the Manor. By the time they reached the doors, they were all relieved to have made it, besides the two little boys who were busy taking in the surroundings. Dobby pushed open the front doors and walked in with Harry's hand in his.

All, except Dobby, were stunned as they entered the hall to find sixty four house elves standing before them, all wearing uniforms with the Potter Crest proudly displayed on the upper left corner of their tops. As Harry walked up to them, they all bowed low to the ground uttering, "Master." Harry giggled and the elves rose and smiled at their young Master.

One of the elves stepped forward and turned to Dobby, "I is being Dipsy, when we feels the wards shift and Master come home, all the Potter elves were called here, to be meeting Master Harry." She then looked Dobby up and down and frowned before clicking her fingers. Dobby looked down to find himself dressed in a crisp white shirt with a black waistcoat, the Potter crest in the left corner, black trousers, white socks and little black shoes. He looked very elegant for an elf.

"You is to be wearing black, Dobby sirs, to be showing you is the head elf," Dipsy said, "we is to be wearing green."

"How about you show us to a tea room so we can discuss things," Sirius said as he walked forward, and to his great amusement, the little elf looked at Dobby for permission.

"Oh yes, we should be getting some teas for Sirs and some snacks and drinks for Masters Harry and Draco," Dobby said, then he turned to the other elves. "Heads of each property stay, while you be sending the others back to were they are suppose to be," he said, and pops could be heard all round as elves went back to their proper places.

Once the group was settled, Narcissa asked for some parchment and a quill to take notes, as Dobby asked each elf for updates. They found that in the eleven properties that Harry owned, they had twelve elves at Potter Manor, twelve at Lily's Cove, six at the Beach house, four that were to be at Godric's Hollow, but had been moved to Potter Castle when James and Lily went into hiding, twelve at the house in France, and a total of ten in the New York apartments, two for each apartment they owned.

"We should get Godric Hollow repaired, Dobby,," Narcissa said, "also could you ask Lucius to see how each property is being used," she said as she wrote down detailed notes.

"I'm sure he will be looking into that while looking into the other finances, Narcissa," Severus said.

They then spent the next hour listening to the run down on all the properties, and after each elf had given a report they popped off, with instructions that Dobby would be checking in on them and letting them know what would be happening. "Dipsy, please be letting the other Potter Manor elves know that they need to be taking care of Sirs Black and Snape, who will be living here with Master Harry as his guardians," Dobby said as he wiped Harry and Draco's faces after they finished eating. "Please be getting the rooms ready for Sirs and Master Harry," he added.

Dipsy popped away and was back five minutes later, "Dipsy be telling Libby and Libby be doing."

There was so much to consider and achieve, for them all, that time seemed to speed up as Harry, Sirius and Severus settled into their new routines. It didn't take long for Lucius to straighten out Harry's finances, and make sure everything was running smoothly. His own team took over Harry's books and much to Lucius' shock, Sirius asked his team to take over the Black fortune as well, so Sirius could spend his time taking care of his new son.

The paper work for the adoption had come through rather quickly after the reading of the will and was now iron clad. Though Sirius thought it would be best for Harry to keep the Potter name but wanted his own name to be reflected.

So it was Harry James Black-Potter, Heir to the Black line and new Lord Potter, that was sitting in the tea room, one of his favourite places in Potter Manor, being watched over by his Dobby, watching a nervous Sirius pace back and forth.

"Black, cease and desist your pacing, you are ruining a perfectly good, expensive Persian rug," Severus sneered, though there was a twinkle of amusement in his obsidian eyes. They were awaiting the arrival of Remus Lupin, and Severus couldn't contain his enjoyment at seeing the Mutt so out of sorts. "You know the wolf will be only too happy to see you free."

Before Sirius had a chance to answer or throw up on his shoes, Dipsy popped in, "Misters Remus Lupin is being here to see you Sirs," she said as she bowed low.

Harry clapped his hands and giggled before toddling over to Dipsy, calling out "Dipy Dipy, Hawry want cookies pwease." Dipsy ignored the fact that she was to see Remus in and popped out, coming back with a tray of cookies and milk, placing them on the small table and herding Harry over to the chair, sitting him down. "Is there being anything else Master Harry," the elf said, with a smile on her face as she watched her young Master.

All the elves had fallen in love with little Harry in the few weeks the little boy had been there, they even had a soft spot for Draco, who visited often. Harry giggled around a cookie in his mouth and shook his head no, "tank yous, Dipy," he said around his bite causing Sirius to chuckle, along with Dipsy and Dobby and Severus to growl, "Do not speak with your mouth full, Harry."

Harry looked up at Severus, his green eyes, wide and innocent looking, as he quickly swallowed his cookie, took a quick drink of his milk and said "I sowwy, Uncy Sevvy." Severus had to turn away for a moment to compose himself, as a chuckle threatened to leave him at the utterly adorable sight in front of him.

When he could control himself he replied, "That's alright young man, just remember your manners," but couldn't help the small smile that slipped onto his face when Harry smiled brightly at him and nodded his little head.

He was utterly amazed everyday how much little Harry could charm, well, anyone. Even the Goblins loved Harry. They had been back to Gringotts a few times, to finalise paperwork and have a look through the Potter vaults for anything that may have been moved from the houses, and Harry would always hug the Goblins. He had taken a special liking to Griphook, the gruffest of the Goblins by far. So it was a delighted sight when on one visit, Harry had toddled over to the Goblin and demanded to be picked up.

Of course Griphook had denied the request with a scowl, which only caused Harry to giggle, then look up at the Goblin with wide green eyes, and said again, "Up, pwease, Giphoop, Hawry want up." It took Harry twenty minutes of constant persistence and teary eyes before Griphook picked him up and Harry promptly snuggled up to the Goblin, rested his little head on Griphook's shoulder and watched the other Goblins work while playing with the material on the poor Goblin's shirt.

Ten minutes later he promptly fell asleep, a light snore coming from Griphook's shoulder. It really was a sight to see, little Harry snuggled up to a scowling Goblin, who would look down at the boy ever so often and smile, despite himself. It also looked rather funny when the size difference wasn't that different, and it showed the Goblin's strength at being able to hold the boy for so long.

Severus was snapped out of his thoughts by Sirius' voice, "Dipsy, what about Remus Lupin?"

Remus Lupin was pacing the marble hall of Potter Manor, a place he thought he would never see again, everything in the place reminded him of James and Lily. He could smell the scent of his cub strongly, even from where he stood, and the wolf was becoming agitated. Everything he thought he knew, was a complete lie. His mind drifted back to the day he picked up the Daily Prophet and everything he believed was shattered.

He was hoping the tea would warm up his shaking and cold frame, as he sat in his cabin. The full moon was just last night and he was recovering slower and slower after each transformation. He could never understand why other wolves did not experience the pain and tiredness he did, but knew that Dumbledore would have told him if there was anything else he could do to help his condition.

A bird tapped at his window, and Remus groaned as he heaved himself up from the chair to open the window. The bird flew in and dropped the paper on the table, before flying away. Lupin looked at it in confusion, since he never read the paper, and had not ordered one. Shrugging his shoulders he closed the window and walked back to the table. As he went to reach for the paper he noticed a note stuck to the front page and picked it up gingerly.

Mr Lupin,

We thought you might find this edition of the Prophet enlightening.

Remus turned the page over, looking for a signature or anything to tell who it came from. He did not recognised the scent on the paper at all. He sighed softly and sat down before picking up the paper.

As he continued to read, his eyes got wider and wider, and his breathing picked up.

Sirius Black betrayed by Albus Dumbledore

This reporter found out some very interesting information, while digging into the whereabouts of Harry Potter after the one year olds miraculous defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. While the world was celebrating to defeat of the Dark Wizard, Albus Dumbledore was plotting to keep The Saviour of the Wizarding World, away from his rightful guardian. It seems that Dumbledore knew that Sirius Black was NOT the secret keeper for the Potter's, but it was none other than Peter Pettigrew, who it turns out is an illegal animagus, his form, I was told by a confidential informant, is of a Rat. Quite fitting, if you ask this reporter, that he be a rat considering he turned on his friends and betrayed them to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

It was told to this reporter, that The Albus Dumbledore, after finding The Boy Who Lived, missing from the rubble of the attack, went to the Ministry and demanded the arrest of Sirius Black. But in the reading of the Potter Will, which this reporter was also informed that Dumbledore tried to block, it was acknowledged that Sirius Black was not the secret keeper and that Albus Dumbledore, knew this the whole time. It was also stated that Albus Dumbledore was to be named from here on out, enemy of the Potter line. To say that we here at the Daily Prophet were astounded at this turn of events was an understatement. We were also informed that Dumbledore wished to place our Saviour with magic hating Muggles.

Muggles of all things.

Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges and is now Harry Potter's legal guardian. It seems that Lord Black is also adopting Lord Potter and this witch has been told his new name will be Harry James Black-Potter. Quite fitting for the Heir of Black and the new Lord Potter.

We will strive to keep the readers informed of any new information in this shocking scandal. I for one am sure to never look at Albus Dumbledore in the same light again.

Rita Skeeter.

Remus crushed the paper to his chest, his eyes turning amber as he growled softly to himself. He needed to find Sirius, he needed to apologise, he needed... he just needed to move.

Lupin was startled out of his thoughts by the popping of a house elf. He looked down at the elf and smiled, despite his roiling emotions. He had always loved the way the Potters took care of their elves, and how cute they all looked in their uniforms.

"Sirs and Master will be seeing you now, please follow Dipsy," the little elf said and turned to walk down the hall. Lupin's heart rate picked up as the scent of his best friend and his cub became more potent. He was startled to smell a familiar scent he had not picked up since Hogwarts. He growled lowly under his breath at the thought of a Death Eater near his cub and quickened his pace, before bursting through the door into the room.

He was about to lunge at Severus Snape but was frozen at the site in front of him. Severus Snape, Death Eater, was knelt down besides his cub, gently wiping crumbs off his face. He then watched dumbfounded as he pulled out his wand and cleaned the crumbs off of Harry's clothes. "Tank you, Uncy Sevy," his cub said and then threw his arms around Snape's waist and hugged him. He was even more alarmed when the Potion Master hugged him back, before gently pushing him away with a small smile on his face.

What the hell is going on, was all Remus could think. He shook his head to clear it, just as his cub started to squeal. "Mooey Mooey, look Pafoo its Mooey," his cub screamed before Lupin found himself with an arm full of Harry. "Hi Mooey," the boy said shyly now he was encased in Remus' arms.

"Hi Cub," the man replied and buried his nose in Harry's hair, inhaling the scent of peace and home.


	7. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> A special thanks to Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her.

Remus carried Harry with him as he walked over to where Sirius was and wrapped his free arm around the man and held the two most important people in his life to him. "I can not apologise enough, Siri, for ever thinking you would betray James and Lily."

"Remus," Sirius breathed out as he wrapped his arms around his friend, "you're here now, that's all that matters. I have so much to tell you."

Remus pulled back and looked at his friend, "yes indeed, like why you are in Potter manor with a Death Eater for starters?"

Severus actually laughed as Harry started singing, "def eater, def eater," while clapping loudly.

"Dobby, could you take Harry for a nap please," Severus said as he stopped his chuckles and realised that they needed to get serious. Dobby took Harry for his nap, after getting hugs from all in the room.

Sirius lead Remus to a chair and then sat himself followed by Severus, who was looking none too pleased at being in the same room at the two Marauders. Sirius shot him a look before focusing back on Remus.

"I think you would understand better, if you actually saw, don't you think so Severus?" Sirius asked Snape, and Remus actually looked horrified that his friend was asking a Death Eater's advice. Severus saw the look on the wolve's face and decided to put the mongrel out of his misery by lifting the left sleeve of his shirt and showing off his unmarked skin. Remus sucked in a breath as he realised that Snape was not marked and slumped back in his seat.

"What the hell is going on," he muttered.

Severus stood and walked over to the pensive, motioning the wolf to follow him, and indicated he should look. Remus turned to Sirius, who nodded his head and with that, Remus Lupin went into the past.

"Are you sure about showing him, Sirius?" Sirius looked offended, so Severus quickly added, "I just meant with the full moon coming the wolf will be very close to the surface."

"Oh, I didn't think of that. Which reminds me, can you start making Remus his wolfsbane potion?"

"And why exactly would I make a potion that would poison the man and make him weak?" Severus sneered. It was something he had learnt this time around, when he researched the potion. He had never questioned it before, when the headmaster had wanted him to brew it, and never really paid attention to other werewolves, since his mishap with Remus. But this time around he had done the research, and realised that while the potion made the man aware, it also made him weak and would kill him before his time.

He had looked at others and compared the ones taking the potion to the ones living wild, and discovered that the wild wolves were strong, healthy and full of life, while the others receiving the potion were weak, and dying slow and painful deaths. "So you wont help him then?" Sirius said, and the defeat in his voice was obvious.

"Of course I will help him, he is very important to Harry, and as you know, I will do what ever it takes to give Harry a good life." Severus sneered. Sirius was confused and it showed, which caused Severus' lip to twitch as he tried to keep from chuckling. "The wolfsbane potion was killing him Sirius, and I will not continue to slowly kill Harry's Uncle Mooney," Severus' face twisted slightly at the nickname. "I have, of course, researched the issues and the best thing for Remus to do, is to embrace the wolf, become one with it. If he continues to fight the wolf, he will only hurt himself and others. If he embraces who he is, learns to become one with the wolf inside, he will find that, like thousands of others out there, he will gain control over himself and the wolf. And I suppose another plus would be that eventually the transformation will cease to hurt."

"It is like many things in nature, when you try to deny the essence of yourself, you only harm yourself, when you embrace who or what you are, you learn to become one and master the demon inside." Severus finished and smiled slightly at the gob smacked expression on Sirius' face.

"What can we do to help?" Sirius asked.

"I have already looked into it and have a pack that are willing to teach Remus what he needs to know to become one with the wolf inside, once he does that, he will be able to transform in front of Harry and I would have no problem with it, as all he would do would be to protect his cub from any danger. If he were non magical, it would be a problem, as the non magical werewolves do not have the magic involved to intertwine the two parts of themselves. But for a wizard or witch, it is all just about control, occlumency, and practice, slowly blending the two without force."

They were interrupted by a snarling sound, and both turned to see Remus, eyes golden as the wolf fought feverishly for control, to exact revenge for his cub. "I will kill him," the wolf growled as he stalked towards the door. Severus was prepared for this also and stunned the man, smirking as the wolf hit the floor, hard.

"Was that really necessary, Severus?" Sirius snapped as he went over to his friend and levitated him to the couch.

"Yes," Severus replied with a grin, causing Sirius to blink a few times at the man, he had seen Severus do many things, smirk, sneer, even a small smile, just a quick twitch of the lips, but he had never seen him grin, and he found it slightly unnerving. He turned his attention back to Remus and watched as he slowly took control of himself, the wolf receding and his eyes going back the their usual blue colour. Sirius cancelled the spell and watched his friend as he struggled to come to terms with everything he had just witnessed.

"It's okay Moony, it's going to be okay now." Sirius soothed, as he watched his friend shake, the colour drained from his face.

Remus' mind was running a mile a minute, he was furious at the lengths Dumbledore would have, and did, go to, to turn his little cub into some kind of weapon. "I wonder how he dealt with the fact he had allowed Harry to die back them?" Remus mused out loud as he tried to come to terms with it all. Sirius watched as Lupin's eyes went wide and he sat up quickly. "Harry, he had some kind of bubble around him when Voldermort shot the killing curse at him, he, he, oh God, he watched as his mother, as Lily, was killed by that monster, and then while he was crying for his mother, that bastard shot the curse at a defenceless baby. But a shield came up around Harry, out of his tiny little hand and surrounded himself. How did he do that? And if he could do that, how come it could not protect him from the Dursleys?" Remus rambled.

"Because we believe, Dumbledore bound his powers," Severus said, almost matter-of-factly.

"How can you be so cavalier about all this," Remus snarled.

"Simple, because I fixed it. Narcissa, Lucius and I came back to change the past. Those things will no longer happen to Harry, and his powers will not be bound this time either."

"Draco," Remus breathed out, "all this for Draco." He realised that if Draco Malfoy had not been mated to Harry Potter, then they would not have lifted a finger to help Harry.

"I know what you are thinking wolf and you are wrong. Well partly. I'm not sure the Malfoy's would have done anything to help Harry, though now they are thoroughly enchanted with the little boy and Narcissa will soon come to love him like her own, if she doesn't already. But I can assure you, I would have done anything to fix it." With that, Severus turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the heavy oak door behind him, magically.

"Oh Remus," Sirius said, shaking his head, "don't you remember how much he loved Lily, he would do anything for her, and the only thing she ever asked him to do was to protect Harry." He smiled sadly at his friend who hung his head.

"I will apologise later, Sirius, it's just a lot to take in.

The two old friends spent the rest of the day talking amongst themselves about what had happened and what they could do to help Harry. It was only when Sirius had tried to talk Remus into moving in and Remus had refused to put Harry in danger, that Sirius told him about all of Severus' research.

"I could, you mean, never hurt anyone again, and never be in pain." Remus choked out, the emotion thick in his voice as he tried to convey how much that would mean to him.

"Yes," Sirius said as he hugged his friend, "Severus said it would take a while, maybe a couple of months, but knowing you, and your massive brain, you could do it in one," Sirius said laughing.

Time moved forward for the residence of Potter Manor, and things were going very well indeed. Lucius had managed to sort out all of Harry's investments. It had been a good move, transferring all of the accounts over to his own people, as the people running the Potter fortune were indeed loyal to Dumbledore and were funnelling money to the old man. Lucius put a quick stop to that, recovered the lost funds and had the accountants thrown into Azkaban. There was little he could do to the old coot, as they had taken to calling Albus, but it was another black mark against his name. Lucius made sure that Rita Skeeter heard all about it and ran another article, this one titled, Albus Dumbledore steals from The Boy Who Lived. It was a wonderful little piece about how Albus was apparently taking money from the Potter estate through the accountants, and how could anybody steal from an innocent baby, let alone the Saviour of the Wizarding World. That article had letters come in from all over, giving their support to Harry. Even, much to everyone's surprise, Molly and Arthur Weasley. Lucius himself was not sure how he felt about that, he had seen the memories where they had done nothing to help the boy, and all of them were certain that they did not want Harry to befriend Ronald Weasley, the boy had treated Harry terribly in the past with his jealousies.

As much as it pained Lucius though, the muggleborn seemed to be a good friend to Harry, after she learnt that teachers did not know everything and that you could not learn life experience from books. But they had a plan to get to the girl early, and fix those issues before Hogwarts. Lucius was almost gleeful as he talked about getting the muggleborn Granger into Slytherin. How could anyone say that Slytherins were all evil and about blood supremacy when they had a halfblood and a muggleborn in their ranks. Severus commented often that Lucius was taking too much pleasure in the new future. But how could the man not be smug when he would be the father-in-law of the Saviour.

But Lucius was most proud of his ability to boost the profiles of all the families. The Blacks, Potters and Malfoys were now the three wealthiest families in the wizarding world. Lucius was not even the little bit upset that the Potters were number one. They would all meld into one family eventually and his son and son-in-law would be the richest most powerful wizards in the world, and not just financially. So it was no surprise to anyone that Lucius could be found staring off into space, a huge smile on his face, while rubbing his hands together, quite often lately. It only added to the praise he received from his father, Abraxas, a man he had never been able to please in the past, was now a solid supporter of the light and one hundred percent behind his son, smiling all the while. Abraxas Malfoy was about one thing and one thing only, Power, and his son had solidified the Malfoy name.

Remus had finally moved in with the Black-Snape-Potter clan and could be found patrolling the grounds on the night of a full moon. He had never been stronger or healthier, and now he looked forward the the full moon and his painless transformation. Sirius joined him on occasion as Padfoot and even Severus would occasionally make an appearance. Though three year old Harry had yet to meet the wolf, they wanted to wait until he was older, little did they know that the howling would sometimes wake Harry up and Dobby would take little Harry to the balcony to watch the wolf and the dog running around playing in the yard, before falling back to sleep and being levitated by the elf back to bed.

Draco was a semi permanent guest at the Manor as well, visiting Harry often, and as they grew their bond grew with them. Narcissa had explained to Sirius and Remus that when Veela found their mates at a young age and were raised together, the bond solidified quickly, and though the two would not understand what that meant until later in life, they would always be close and defend one another. When she was asked why they were so combative the first time around, Narcissa explained, "When a young Veela comes across his mate at a young age, but close to puberty, it confuses him, and as he tried to impress the person, with no real reason why they want to, they can become somewhat," she paused for a moment and looked lovingly at her son, "overbearing. Of course in this case, Harry did not like the way young Draco acted and refused his friendship. This of course would have subconsciously made the Veela reel, but since it was still dormant, Draco could not decipher what he was feeling and turned his confusion and pain into a rivalry. This time around they do not have that issue, since they have been together since they were toddlers, so their transition will be quite easy to go from best friends to partners, when the time comes." Everyone saw the flash of pain that Narcissa tried to hide, even after all this time, the image of the two boy's bodies still haunted them all.

Harry's accidental magic flared quite often, and caused regular chaos. It was all Dobby could do to manage the fallout. Even this young, Harry was proving just how powerful he was going to be, and Lucius could not be happier, especially when Harry turned Severus' hair Weasley red and his robes a bright purple. He was even happier when Sirius had showed him the picture he had captured of the moment.

Sirius had done some of his own family cleansing, and had disowned Bellatrix LeStrange from the Black family, and had reinstated Andromada and Nymphdora Tonks, much to Andies delight. But the most important thing about disowning Bellatrix was they had access to her vault, through the Goblins, to remove all Black property. It was during that visit that Lucius felt the same thing from Harry in the vault. He focused until it lead him to a golden cup, he recognised as Hufflepuff's Cup.

That in turn lead to them researching all the founders belongings, and coming up with a list of possible Horcruxes. Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's Diadem and Gryffindor's sword were all on the list. As well as personal items that meant something to Tom Riddle. Lists of possibilities were made. But the group were celebrating the small victory of discovering another Horcrux already. They had rid the one from Harry, had the Diary they had seen in Harry's memory from the Chamber of Secrets and now they had the Cup.

Things were moving along nicely, but they could not rest, until they had all of them, since they knew there were seven from Harry's memory of Slughorns memory. They had hoped to have them all, before Harry started Hogwarts.


	8. Birthdays and Grangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> A special thanks to Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her.
> 
> I also would like to apologise for all the times I wrote pensive instead of Pensieve, lol I actually didn't notice it until I did a reread. I shall try not to make that mistake again, but I'm too damn lazy to go back and fix it in all the other chapters. lol

Laughter filled the Manor, at the atrocious singing of the adults. Harry and Draco were holding hands by Harry's birthday cake, trying to hold each other up, laughing so hard at the way the grown ups were butchering the Happy Birthday song. "They sound worse than they did for me, Harry," Draco whispered through his laughter. Harry could only nod his head at his best friend's statement. They sounded awful.

Lucius was trying hard not to laugh himself, as all the adults sang off key, enjoying the sounds of joyful laughter coming from the boys. It had been very similar at Draco's fifth birthday, except this time around, Dobby was singing louder than anyone else, and bobbing along to an imaginary tune in his head. They had discovered many things about the bond between Dobby and Harry. They now knew that Dobby could protect people and the environment around them from Harry's power surges, they knew that Harry's accidental magic would not harm Dobby, even if Harry was lashing out in anger or sorrow. They also discovered that Dobby had increased in power himself. The little elf was now one of the most powerful house-elves in the world, and in time as his powers grew with his Master's he would become, like Harry, the most powerful of his kind.

After researching, Lucius and Severus had finally realised how Dobby seemed to know things, he needed to know things to be the best protector for Harry. As their bond grew and Harry's power grew, so did Dobby's. The men were fascinated. They also discovered that Fawkes had been helping long before he broke contact with Dumbledore. Oh and what a headline that had made.

Lucius was taken back to Harry's fourth birthday, when the Phoenix had flamed in, as he did every year for Harry's birthday. He took up his usual spot on Severus' shoulder, and watched. It was just after everyone had sat down to cake that things changed. Fawkes seemed to grow, and it wasn't until you looked closely that you realised he was glowing, the light becoming almost blinding as the bird moved towards Harry.

Harry held out his little arm and Fawkes lowered his head, his beak resting in Harry's small palm, them he cried, three tears, and they sunk into Harry's skin causing the little boy to squeal with delight. "Yes, oh yes please," Harry had screamed, while laughing, and then in a blinding flash, it was all over. Fawkes and Harry were now bonded.

Four days later, he had issued a statement to Rita Skeeter, who had become quite popular, the article had been very amusing to Lucius. The only thing that he was uncertain about was the talk about the Prophecy.

Dumbledore abandoned by Phoenix, has the man turned dark?

It has come to this reporters attention that the Phoenix known as Fawkes, bonded to one Albus Dumbledore, broke the bond with the Headmaster days after Harry Potter survived the Killing Curse. I discovered, that four days ago, the same Phoenix bonded itself to Harry Potter, our Saviour, during his fourth birthday party. What a wonderful present for a little boy to receive. But that brings to mind, what exactly did Albus Dumbledore do to cause a Phoenix, who are loyal and loving creatures, and pure light, turn its back on the Headmaster? One can only speculate that Mr Dumbledore has turned his back on the light. There can be no other explanation for the severing of such a bond by the familiar.

When questioned, Albus Dumbledore stated that he had asked Fawkes to break the bond and bond himself to Harry to help keep him safe. "I know that Harry Potter will have a fight ahead of him, if the Prophecy is true, so I sent Fawkes to help the boy with his task. Fawkes was a great help to me when I defeated Grindelwald, and I knew Harry would benefit from his help, when Voldermort once again rose."

This reporter can only say, nice try in covering your own bottom Headmaster. As to whether Voldermort would rise again, I went to the Minister himself for conformation as to whether this could occur.

"At this time, we believe Voldermort to be deceased, but if at any time we discover that he has found a way to come back, the Ministry will do everything in its power to defeat him again. As for this Prophecy Dumbledore speaks of, the Unspeakable's have gone over every word, and it has been discovered that Harry Potter has already fulfilled the Prophecy, when he defeated Voldermort the night the madman killed our Saviour's parents."

More on Prophecy's on page 5

More on Grindelwald on page 8

When Lucius finally snapped out of his memories, Harry was already opening presents, and Filius was looking at the man strangely. "Everything all right Lucius?" the little man asked.

"Oh, yes, quite fine, just lost in thought." Lucius replied.

Filius had written to Sirius after discovering the clause in the Will. They had exchanged letters for a while, secretly, and Filius had finally come to meet Harry when the boy was three. The little man had fallen head over heals for little Harry, and was a constant visitor to the Manor now. Though they still kept it from Dumbledore. Filius had also viewed the memories.

Now that the boys were both five, they were to begin their training, and Filius had offered his services in Charms, and later on duelling. To have a Charms Master and a Potions Master to teach the boys was priceless, not to mention the fact that Filius was a renown Duellist. Remus and Sirius were going to be working with the boys on Defence Against the Dark Arts, Narcissa was going to be in charge of Transfiguration. Lucius and a few tutors would be helping the boys with Wizarding Protocol, such as law and finances. They had all subjects covered and the boys would be going into Hogwarts fully prepared and experienced.

With what Harry had to face in the past, they were making every effort so in case they could not change certain things Harry and Draco were totally prepared to handle any situation. They had made so may changes already, and things were looking up, but the trio had always kept in mind that it was foolhardy to underestimate Albus Dumbledore. No matter how much they discredited him, there would always be those who would follow the man and do his dirty work and it was their jobs to make sure these people were kept away from Harry and Draco.

Lucius chuckled as Harry rushed over with a plate for him, "you didn't come and get cake Uncle Lucius," Harry exclaimed as he handed over the plate, and gave Lucius a look as if to say he had serious problems if he forgot cake.

"Thank you, Harry," Lucius said as he took the cake and bent down to place a kiss on Harry's messy hair. He could not believe how much him and Narcissa had fallen for the little Saviour and thanked his lucky stars he was able to be in the life of such a remarkable child. Harry smiled at him and rushed off when Draco called.

The two boys had grown so close, and Lucius could not believe the change in his own son this time around. Draco was a happy child the first time around, but this time, he seemed to have a confidence he didn't posses before. He was also a kind, sweet child, much like Harry, though he still had more tantrums than Harry had, and sometimes they had to call Harry in to calm Draco down, since no one else could manage it.

Lucius walked over to Severus, once everyone had finished their cake and the boys were playing quietly with Harry's toys. "I think it's time we brought in friends for Harry, especially the Granger girl. She was very loyal to Harry, and the earlier we get her the easier it will be to mould her into the perfect Slytherin. We also need to get rid of her need to please her teachers and take their word as if Merlin himself had spoken. Imagine the damage Dumbledore could do if he got his hands on her."

"I already have her monitored, and the moment she has a surge of accidental magic, we will be paying a visit to her parents. Sirius will also be paying a visit to the Longbottom's, to have Neville join the tutoring sessions for the boys. If we work with him early, and dissuade," Severus' lip curled up in slight disgust, "that woman from making the boy use his father's wand, instead of matching him with his own, he will be much better off."

"Always a step ahead, old friend," Lucius said with a smirk.

"Somebody has to be, you are so distracted by making the boys richer and more powerful, someone has to keep up with the day to day." Severus smirked back and chuckled slightly at the look on Lucius' face.

"Well, finances are important, and if we had not looked into them, Dumbledore would have robbed Harry blind." Lucius huffed. He then smirked and turned to face Severus fully, "how is it living with the dog and the wolf?" Lucius laughed out loud at the look of disdain on his friend's face.

"Cheap shot, Lucius, even for you," Severus said and walked away.

The truth was the three were getting along very well, not that Severus would ever admit it out loud. The bond between the three was made easier by Harry, all wanted to give him the life he deserved and would put up with Pettigrew if they had to.

The hunt for Pettigrew was still on, and people who had rats, were bringing them in to the Ministry to be tested. They were inundated with the animals, but no luck so far. It was times like this that Severus realised that if Sirius had gone after Pettigrew he would be easier to find, since he would have a finger missing and that would be distinctive on a rat.

They did however keep an eye on the Weasley's just in case Percy found that rat again, this time around.

The boys' lessons had been progressing nicely, Draco and Harry were joined by Neville Longbottom, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Susan Bones. They had also talked to Mr Lovegood, to include Luna next year, as she was also a very good friend to Harry. Sirius and Remus were very worried about Parkinson and Crabbe and Goyle, as their parents were suspected Death Eaters, but out of all the group, they were the only ones that Lucius and Severus could bring over to their side, and none had the Dark Mark, making their families stick close and support one another. And everybody new that Ms Zabini was neutral, since all she was worried about was finding a new husband, and much to everyone's amusement and his utter dismay, her eyes were set on Severus.

At this point the children were being taught the academic side of magic, they would not be given their practice wands until they were seven. Though the adults did display wand movements and incantations for them to commit to memory. It was during a lesson with Professor Flitwick on the importance of wand movement and pronunciation, that Severus came barrelling into the classroom.

"Filius, we need to head over to the Granger's house, there has been a massive spike of magic reported." Flitwick squeaked with delight and jumped down from his seat.

Severus turned to Harry and Draco, "I would like you two boys to come with us, the rest of you, stay put, Lucius will be in to take over your lesson." The children left over groaned at that, knowing that they would now be discussing Wizarding Etiquette. Boring.

Narcissa, it had been decided, should go too, so that the Grangers did not feel even more overwhelmed in an already surprising situation. So she grabbed hold of her son, while Severus took Harry and Apparated to the Granger home, Filius following.

They heard the screams as they walked up the drive, and could see flames coming from the house, they also heard a little girl crying. They rushed up and knocked on the door, which was answered by a woman who looked anxious. Her brows rose in shock as she saw the strange looking people at her door and asked in a high voice, "can I help you?"

"Actually," Narcissa replied, "we are here to help you. May we come in?" Mrs Granger was so shocked she just opened the door and made a sweeping gesture with her hands. She followed them into the kitchen where there was a small fire spreading, while her husband tried to put it out with a tea towel.

She watched in abject fascination as one of the men, the tall one, pulled out a stick and waved it around, and she was stunned when the fire went out, and the damage was repaired before her eyes. She swivelled when she heard a soft voice speaking in hushed tones, and watched as the pretty woman seemed to calm her child down, and shrugged her shoulders at her husband as he turned to her for answers.

"My name is Severus Snape, the woman talking to your daughter is Narcissa Malfoy, the small man next to me is Professor Filius Flitwick, and the children are Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. We are here, because a bout of accidental magic was registered at this address." The Grangers looked at him as if he had two heads.

"Magic, you say," Mr Granger said as he headed for the phone.

"Did you or did you not just witness me putting out a fire and repairing the damage with a wave of my wand?" Severus asked, trying very hard to keep the sneer out of his voice. But really he had little tolerance for dunderheads.

Mrs Granger placed her hand on her husband's arm, and tried to smile reassuringly at him, "let's hear them out, you know Hermione has done some strange things in the past at school." Severus could have smacked himself in the head at his own stupidity. How could he forget the school, he had often wondered why it had taken this long for little Granger's magic to manifest, considering in the past she was a strong witch.

They sat down and Flitwick summoned a tea service, much to the delight of Hermione and surprise of the Grangers, and they discussed magic and Hogwarts, and the early education of Hermione so she would not be behind the other students of the school, while Harry, Draco and Hermione played near by.


	9. Pensieve Grangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> A special thanks to Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her.

Harry giggled as Draco pushed him behind himself, to block Harry from Hermione. Draco's face had a sour look on it, which Harry knew was his attempt to look like Lucius. They went through this every time a new child was introduced to the group. After the fifth time Harry had gotten use to it. "Draco, stop it," Harry laughed while trying to push past the blond.

"But Harry," Draco whined, "we don't know her."

"Draco," Harry said, using the soft voice he used often to calm his best friend down, "Your mother and Uncle Sev, would not have let us come here, if we were not safe." Harry ended the statement with a peck to Draco's cheek, causing the blond to smile widely while blushing.

By the time Draco had composed himself, Harry and Hermione where sitting down by some toys playing. "Hey no fair, Harry," Draco groused. Harry grinned up at him, while Hermione looked on curiously.

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"Draco is a Veela, and I'm going to be his mate when we grow up, but his Veela side still responds to me now. Aunty Cissa says it's 'cause we were raised together."

"But what if you don't wanna be his mate?" Hermione asked, her head cocked to the side in curiosity. Draco growled lowly in his throat, a strange sound to come out of a five year old, but it was loud enough to get the attention of the adults.

"What's going on Severus asked, walking over to the children and noting Draco's murderous look.

"That girl," Draco spat out pointing to Hermione, "said that Harry didn't want to be my mate." A sharp intake of breath from two people let Severus know that Filius and Narcissa were behind him.

"Mate? What does that mean?" Mr Granger asked, while Harry had gotten up and was hugging Draco to him, whispering in his ear. Everybody could see the tenseness slowly decreasing from the small Veela's body.

The next hour and a half was spent discussing Veela, their mates, magical creatures and magic. Hermione had turned a nice shade of green at the thought of causing so much pain to the blond little boy she had just met. She berated herself, and with a painful stabbing to her heart, thought, 'I'm going to have no friends in this new world either, unless I make some changes. Maybe Harry can teach me how to not put my foot in my mouth again.' With that plan in mind, Hermione switched back to listening to the adults.

By the time the group left the Granger's, Severus had become Hermione's magical guardian and a Floo network had been set up so that the Grangers and Hermione could travel between their home, Malfoy Manor and Potter Manor. Thanks to a very helpful Minister, it was done in total secrecy and off the books. Wards had also been set around the Granger home, much to Elizabeth and Edward's relief.

Beth and Ed, as the Grangers had become known as, spent most weekends at Potter Manor, getting to know all the children and their parents, plus the adults who would be teaching Hermione. The more they learned about magic and its politics the more they wanted to know, and to help change some of the things they thought were barbaric in nature. Beth had become entrenched in the equal rights of all magical creatures, which caused Severus and Sirius to smirk, reminded of the memory of Hermione and S.P.E.W.

As the weeks turned into months and the relationship between Beth and Narcissa grew, Narcissa became obsessed with letting the Grangers see what had happened in the past. Beth could see the sadness that would cross her friends face from time to time, and Narcissa felt the need to open up to her new friend. It was a friendship no-one expected to form, and the closeness of the two women surprised everyone. Narcissa was fierce in her defence of Beth, and woe betide anyone who said a bad word about the woman. Narcissa even asked if Severus could come up with a way to make them magical, which they all knew was impossible.

Lucius and Narcissa where in the tea room at Potter Manor discussing the training of the boys with Severus, Sirius and Remus, when Narcissa brought it up again. Harry and Draco were playing in the playroom upstairs.

"I just don't see why they can't see. We know muggles can view pensieve memories, it's been done before, with muggleborn parents." Narcissa was not far off a whine as she tried to plead her case for the hundredth time, or so it seemed to everyone in the room.

"They can not protect their minds, Narcissa. We have been through this before." Severus said. His voice held a touch of annoyance at being made to discuss this again.

"What about a po..." Narcissa started but was cut off by Severus.

"You know there is no such thing, and it would take years for me to develop one, with all the other work that needs to be done to protect Harry and Draco's futures. I'm sorry Narcissa, maybe after it is all over you can share the memories with your friend." Severus wore a sympathetic expression, he understood Narcissa's need for her friend to know, for another mother, who would understand perfectly what Narcissa felt, to talk to. It just was not possible without endangering them all.

"I know," Narcissa whispered, "I just wish it could be different." She and everyone else in the room jumped slightly, when Dobby popped into the room.

"I is being sorry for listening to Madam and Sirs talking, but Dobby has a solutions to yous problem."

"What is it Dobby," Narcissa asked as she leaned forward towards the elf.

"Wizards and Witches are always overlookings magical creatures, they is. Stupid wizards and witches," Dobby muttered the last part under his breath, but the room heard, and couldn't help but smirk, even thought they were slightly insulted, they could not disagree. "Many many years ago, the Goblins hads to come up with a ways to protect the muggleborns non-magical parents. Theys were told to move all the accounts to muggle banks that dealt with Gringotts, and in doing so, could easily access galleon for their children without having a magical person take them to a magical area to access the Goblin bank. The Goblins soon found that some bads wizards were using Legilimency to gain access to bank codes and the location of keys and taking all the muggle's moneys. Goblins hate many things, but the top of the list is thieves, so they developed a way to protect the muggles minds from Wizards and Witches to protect theirs moneys." Dobby paused and took a deep breath after rushing all that information out before starting again. "So wes just have to talks to the Goblins, theys can be helping the Grangys so they can be tolds all the secrets you wants to tell." Dobby looked at them all very seriously before adding, "as long as nos secrets hurts Master Harry Potter." He waggled a finger in all their faces, before standing back and smiling at them all.

"We should get the Goblins to re-enforce their wards as well, like they did for all the Black, Malfoy and Potter properties." Severus mused out loud.

Three days later, the Granger's minds and property were protected so tightly, no wizard or witch would ever be able to breech them. The adults had the children's minds protected too, just to be on the safe side. Since Dumbledore had no trouble using children they way he did, the adults had no doubt he would damage a child's mind to get what he wanted. It was the following weekend that Beth and Ed were invited to spend the night at Potter Manor, and after the children were tucked in for the night, they Grangers were shown the Pensieve memory.

It was a daunting experience for the Grangers, they were drained of all colour and shaking badly as they exited the memories. Beth was clutching tightly to Ed, her mouth moving rapidly but no sound escaping. It took over two hours and muggle safe calming draughts to get the woman to calm slightly, to the point that she could form words. It took another hour before she could form coherent sentences. Ed had downed half a bottle of whiskey by the time his wife was talking properly.

"Little Harry, that sweet, sweet little boy, had to endure...it's unimaginable. That a human being could do something like that, but worse, his own blood relatives. And that poor excuse for a man, to encourage that behaviour and treat that child so badly. I wish to take a gun and shoot him in the head, no magic could recover from a shot gun blast that took half is face off." Beth said, her voice raising in level during her rant.

"Harry has our full support, whatever we can do to help, just name it. We can talk to other muggleborn parents and tell them to watch out for Dumbledore, explain about the Goblins willing to protect their minds, and their homes." Edward said and shot to his feet before he exclaimed loudly, "WE CAN START THE MUGGLE RESISTANCE." He looked around, and blushed slightly, "I seemed to have got carried away there, what exactly is in this whiskey you call fire?"

While her husband was being taught the finer art of Fire Whiskey, Beth took Narcissa into a corner to talk. "Now I understand everything, Cissa, and I'm so sorry. To have to see your son like that, to have to endure it, even for a moment. Even though you had the miracle of Time Travel, to be haunted with those images. Oh Cissa," Beth finished as tears fell freely down her friend's face.

"It's so hard, Beth. We don't talk about it, we just try to forget it happened, but a part of me is still stuck there, standing over my dead son's body as he cradles his mate." Narcissa said no more as her friend held her tight while she grieved properly for the very first time. It was cathartic and Narcissa felt a cleansing as she cried out her pain. When she finally stopped, she squeezed her friend one more time before letting go, "thank you Beth, thank you."

It was viewing that moment, that the men finally understood completely, why Narcissa was so insistent of Beth being told the truth.

When the women rejoined the men, Beth suddenly said, "our Hermione is to have nothing to do with that Ronald Weasely," which caused everyone in the room to chuckle and giggle. Beth smiled and squeezed Narcissa's hand, winking at her. They talked about other things to take their mind off of the horrible images that was sure to be playing in every mind of every person in that room.

Out of the blue, Beth sat up straight and glared at Sirius, "Mr Black," she said her voice ice cold, "I just had a thought, and could use clarification on the matter, Could you explain to me, why exactly you left your Godson, in the hands of the giant, instead of doing what you were asked to do, what you were expected to do and take care of that precious child." Before Sirius could speak she raised her hand and continued, "and you might like to explain to me, why you went to make the same mistake a second time around, can you do that Mr Black? Cause I, for the life of me, can not understand how revenge is more important than an innocent child's life."

Sirius bowed his head in shame, and Narcissa squeezed her friends hand and shook her head. They all knew Sirius still dealt the with guilt and grief of what he had done, daily and it would be excruciating for him to have someone point out, yet again, how completely and utterly stupid and reckless he had been. Lucius handed Sirius a shot, as Narcissa lead Beth out of the room, to explain exactly how much Sirius suffered, tormenting himself everyday about the mistakes he made the first time and almost made again. It was a subdued Beth that walked back into the room, walked right up to Sirius and pulled him in to a hug. "I'm so sorry, Sirius, I had no idea," she whispered in his ear.

"It''s okay," he answered gruffly, "it's the least I deserve." That sentence, and more importantly the tone, told Beth that everything Narcissa had said, had been more than true, and the man before her was still suffering and trying to make penance for his mistakes. She felt awful for jumping to conclusions, but could not help herself when it came to the safety of children, and let's face it, she was still extremely shook up by that memory.

"No, Sirius, I am so so sorry. I should have spoken to Narcissa before I berated you, it was a terrible mistake. I should get all the facts before I jump to conclusions, it won't happen again, and please accept my apology." Sirius tried to smile, but it was half hearted, and everyone could see it.

"Apology accepted, Beth. Thank you for looking out for Harry."

"Hey," Remus said, trying to defuse the situation, "it's a full moon tomorrow night, who wants to run with a werewolf?" Everyone laughed as Beth and Ed grew excited and Beth actually squealed. Sirius turned to Remus and mouthed "thank you, old friend."


	10. Pansy Learns a Lesson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter and all its characters.
> 
> A special thanks to my Beta Taloolahp, who works on all my stuff, I adore her. Any and all mistakes are mine. Feel free not to point them out. *grins* And please remember this story is going to be very AU. I'm changing everything with the time reset.

"Uncle Sev," Hermione's voice swept over Severus, he knew that tone and he had to try to cover his smirk before he turned to face the child. She had grown quiet apt at the art of revenge, after a few run ins with some of the other students due to jealousy. There was a distinct line drawn between the groups, Harry, Draco, Hermione, Neville and Luna were always together, while the others just tried to get their attention. Pansy was the most outspoken, thanks to her now legendary crush on Draco. When the girl was six, she demanded that Harry be removed from Draco's life and a marriage contract be drawn up between Draco and herself, to which her mother had informed her that it was impossible since Harry was Draco's future mate. Pansy had scoffed and thrown a tantrum of the likes never seen before and Harry had laughed at her, saying, "you is so stupid," he made it worse by nudging Draco and saying, "tell her Draco, she is so stupid," to which Draco nodded and smiled, and then Harry added, "besides you can't kick me out of my own house." He then shook his head while grabbing Draco's hand and dragging the boy off, muttering all the while about how stupid the pug face girl was.

Severus had laughed about that for days, while Narcissa had told Pansy's mother in no uncertain terms that if she could not teach her child proper manners, they were not longer welcome in the Malfoy or Potter homes. They had not seen Pansy for a week and then she had popped back up red faced and apologised for her behaviour. Harry, still to this day, at nine, held a grudge. Pansy had kept to her word, but her attention had turned to Hermione, trying to hurt Harry through his best friend.

Hermione had taken revenge against the girl, every single time, and always a week or so after the original offence had been perpetrated. Severus chuckled again at the fine job they had done raising these children to be Slytherin. Hermione was outshining even Draco in her sneakiness.

Severus turned around to face the little girl in question, and almost choked trying to keep from chuckling at the glint in her eye. "Yes Hermione?"

"I was curious," Hermione had her hands behind her back, and she was gently toeing the carpet, "is there such a thing as a potion to make someone's hair fall out, you see in the muggle world we have a special cream you can put on and it will make hair fall out, but I wanted to know if there was a potion that could do it, for, you know, when I get older and need to shave my legs."

"I see," Severus said, his voice still trying to hide his chuckle at her attempt to try and get one over on the potions master. Hermione had tried this often over the years, and never once succeeded though that never stopped her from giving it a go. Severus bend down on to one knee to look Hermione in the eye, "now why don't you tell me the real reason you want a hair removal potion?"

Hermione bounced on her toes slightly, and that was the only sign of her excitement, "so there is such a thing, thanks Uncle Sev." She was just about to run off when Severus grabbed hold of her arm and held her in place, causing Hermione to look up at him, trying to look innocent.

"How about you tell me why you want the potion, and if I believe it is for a good cause, I will make it for you myself." Severus never in a million years thought there would be a good reason for this, nor was he expecting what happened next.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, which was not something that happened to the girl much, she was very good at hiding her emotions, unless she was with her parents or Harry and Draco, and her eyes fell to the floor, as she started to wring her hands together almost painfully. "Pansy, she, well, it was awful Uncle Sev, she called me," Hermione gulped and tried to swallow her tears, "shecalledmeamudblood," she muttered, her words all flowing together. Severus took a minute to try and slow the words down in his own mind and when he did, he reared back like someone had physically struck him. That word was forbidden in Potter Manor and Malfoy Manor.

"She did what?" Severus' voice was soft, but the sound was scathing. Hermione knew just from that tone that Pansy was in for it big time and she would no longer need the potion, even though she still wanted to use it. Stupid Pansy.

Severus' mind was reeling, all the parents had been told in no uncertain terms that blood status was something that was not to be talked about, and the word mudblood was never to be uttered out of anyone's mouth, especially in front of the children. He also knew that Rose Parkinson would never allow her child to say such things. She was trying very hard to become closer to Narcissa and Beth, but the two women were so close it was hard for anyone to breach their circle. He had no trouble at all believing Cassius would have uttered that word on multiple occasions during business meetings with pureblood bigots.

"I think, Miss Granger, that I might have a few things to help you in your little endeavour." The smirk Severus received from Hermione was enough to make him shiver slightly.

Hermione was excited, not only would she get her revenge, she was also going to learn a thing or two, Uncle Sev only called her Miss Granger when he was teaching them. Severus sent Hermione to find Harry and Draco, telling her he would come find her later to help him brew a few potions. He then turned sharply on his heels and went to find Narcissa.

"How could you allow your daughter to use such a word, Rose?" Narcissa's voice carried out into the hall, which showed just how angry she was.

"I had no idea she had even heard the word Narcissa, I will be talking to her and my husband as soon as I get her home, you can be sure of it." Rose stated, her face was tinted with embarrassment at her daughter having stuck her foot in it yet again. She was certain they would be told never to return.

"See that you do, I expect a full apology," Narcissa paused and a smirk covered her face, "and I am sure Hermione will be extracting her own punishment." Rose shuddered herself, she had seen Hermione's punishments on plenty of occasions. She just wished Pansy could learn to keep her mouth shut and behave accordingly in any situation.

Severus chose that moment to walk into the room, a sneer plastered on his face. "Mrs Parkinson, I have been informed about what has happened, and am only too pleased to assist Miss Granger in her endeavours for punishment. I'm sure Miss Parkinson will be told to apologise to Harry as well, since his mother was a muggleborn."

Rose paled even more, having totally forgot about Harry Potter's mother. Her daughter was in for it now. "Did Harry hear the slur?" she asked, praying to God he only heard about it afterwards.

"Yes he did, and it was only Draco's fast thinking that kept Pansy from being attacked then and there." Rose's hand went to her mouth and she rushed out of the room. She had a family to fix, right quick, before they became pariahs.

Two weeks later, Pansy stood in front of all the children and adults, a hat placed firmly on her head, but there was nothing she could do to cover her green skin. Harry had added to Hermione's hair loss idea and decided the girl needed to be green until she could learn to curb her jealousy.

"Green with envy, get it," Harry could be heard sprouting around the house, giggling all the while. Her hair would not grow back either, until she was given the antidote, Severus had been very busy creating a new potion and the antidote to it. It was very funny to see, and there were plenty of pictures to supply Pansy with enough reason to 'shut her mouth' as Hermione would say.

Pansy, for her part, had learned her lesson well. She would never listen to her Uncle again, as it was his advice that told her to demand Harry's removal and his advice that told her to pick on Hermione. She was unsure about the Mudblood word, but used it anyway in a fit of jealousy. Now she regretted it more than anything in the world. She had embarrassed herself and her family, almost beyond redemption. Stupid Uncle telling her she needed to marry a Malfoy to bring them over to the Dark Lord. Stupid Dark Lord.

Pansy had explained it all to her parents, who in turn explained it all to the Malfoy's, Sirius, Remus and Severus. Pansy had then been told all about the so called Dark Lord and exactly what he did, and the fact that he was not even a Pureblood, so everyone that followed him and knelt before him were just idiots. She couldn't agree more.

The rift between the children took a long time to repair, but it was solidified after the children had received their letters to Hogwarts. The families decided to go as a group to get the children's school supplies.

Lucius had managed to get Severus appointed Potions Professor at Hogwarts, he had also made sure Quirrell never made it onto Hogwarts property. Sirius Black had been made Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, much to Dumbledore's outrage. The much talked about curse was actually non existent. Dumbledore just needed a reason to keep changing the teachers so he could test Harry, in the previous time line, and they knew that to be true in this one also.

As the family were walking down the Alley, enjoying the sunshine and watching the children run from store window to store window, there was a loud crash, and then people were screaming and running. Lucius ran for Harry and Draco, knocking them to the ground just as a stunner was about to hit Harry. "Dumbledore," Lucius grumbled under his breath as he cast a shield in front of him and the boys. Narcissa, Severus and Sirius were shielding the rest of the children while the rest of the adults were defending them.

A cutting curse had been thrown at Hermione, but it bounced effortlessly off the shields. The thing that shocked everyone, was that Pansy had pushed Hermione to the ground. At the angle that the girls fell, if the shield had not been in place, Pansy would have been hit by the curse, protecting Hermione.

It was a very shaken group of adults and children that Portkeyed back to Potter Manor, after the Auror's had arrived and cleared the area. Amelia Bones had promised to come by later to discuss what they found.

The children were sitting at the table in Harry's favourite dinning room, drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies, to try and help their shaken nerves, when Hermione spoke up. "Why, Pansy, why would you do that for me, you hate me." Pansy sighed, her shaking hands lowering her mug to the table.

"You are the only friends I have ever had. I know I've been, as Harry would say, 'a stupid pugged faced girl,' but until Mother sat me down and explained it all to me, I was just doing what my Uncle told me." Pansy was sobbing quietly, which in itself was strange, as no-one had ever seen the girl cry but her parents. "But I really want to be friends with all of you, I just don't know how to stop being such a, stupid girl." Hermione went over to the girl and pulled her into a hug.

"Well the best way would be to stop insulting me and trying to get between Draco and Harry," Hermione said, in her matter of fact voice. "And you can never use the M word again."

Pansy shuddered at the thought, she had been green and bald for two weeks, "I have learnt my lesson well, with that one, I promise," she said her wet eyes wide as she looked at the group.

"Then we are all friends?" Neville asked quietly as he, like everyone else, tried and failed to stop his hands shaking.

"Friends," all the children repeated together.

"How are we going to get our school supplies now?" Hermione asked. She may be sneaking and cunning this time around but she was still a lover of all things educational. Harry and Draco sniggered behind their hands and Hermione shot them a disgruntled look. She was still disgruntled that Harry and Draco were in front of her in all their pre Hogwarts classes.

"The adults will get them, I don't think we will be allowed in Diagon Alley ever again," Harry said with a grimace, "Do you think that was those Death Eaters that they talk about all the time or Dumbledore?" Harry added.

"Who knows," Draco said as he slid an arm around Harry and held him close, "but whoever it was, they will figure it out and keep us safe."

Harry and Draco had spent a lot of time snooping on their parents, and Hermione had joined in when she had realised that sometimes you had to be sneaky to find out what you wanted to know. It was a hard lesson for the young girl, when she discovered that adults keep things from you and sometimes lie.

They had learnt all about The Dark Lord Voldermort, also known as Tom Riddle, and how Harry was suppose to defeat him, and they had learnt that Dumbledore the Headmaster of Hogwarts was also trying to get his hands on Harry to use him as a weapon. It didn't make much sense to the kids until they were older, and they slowly started piecing things together.

"Dad," Harry called out as he saw Sirius walk past the open door. Sirius had been very iffy about Harry calling him Dad, especially since he planned on it never happening, he did not want to replace James. But Harry had insisted, since everyone else had a mum and dad and he didn't have either. He complained it wasn't fair and said that if Sirius had adopted him then he was his dad, end of discussion. Harry had been seven, and had Dobby help him figure it all out.

"Yes son?" Sirius asked as he poked his head into the room, and chuckled when Dobby was refilling Harry's cup and then plastered himself to Harry's side. The poor elf was very upset that he had not been with Harry when the attack had occurred and was now determined to never let his Master out of his sight again.

"How are we going to get our supplies?"

"Your Uncle Sev went to pick them up with Lucius and Remus, they should be back shortly." Sirius smiled and waved as he walked out of the room.

"There ya go Hermione, problem solved, though it would have been nice to buy some extra books." Both Harry and Hermione would be upset about that for days.


	11. Hogwarts Bound and Sorted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter.
> 
> Thanks to my Beta Taloolaph P and my prereader Green Gremlin. You guys are awesome in all the support you give me, I adore you both so much.

"We forgot about wands," Remus said as they finished up the children's shopping.

"Indeed," Severus replied, "we will have to contact Cornelius and Amelia and have a group of Aurors to escort them. Are we done?" With nods from the others, all three went back to the Leaky Cauldron and Flooed back to Potter Manor.

The trio found the children still sitting around the table with hot chocolate and cookies, and Severus, Lucius and Remus had to stifle a laugh at the sight of Dobby plastered to Harry's right side while Draco was plastered to his left. All the while Harry sat happily munching on a cookie and smiling at his companions.

"We shall let you deal with this, Severus," Lucius said, and dragged Remus from the room, chuckling at the sight on his friend's face.

Severus was grumbling under his breath about death to blondes when he took a seat at the head of the table, and all the children turned to look at him. "Well, it seems we have a little problem. You all need wands and in order to get them, you must go to Ollivander's. We have to figure out a way to get you there and back safely, so Lucius is talking to," Severus was cut off by the flash of Fawkes entering the room.

The bird trilled softly to Harry, who smiled in return, "of course, why didn't I think of that." Harry smacked himself in the forehead, which caused Draco to grab his hand and then rub the spot he hit. Harry just smiled at him, before turning back to Severus. "You could get the Auror's to stand guard out the front of the store, if it makes you feel better, but Fawkes said he can flash us in, two at a time to get our wands and then bring us straight back here. No travel in between."

Severus smiled at them and reached over to run his hands through Fawkes feathers, "very good idea, indeed," he said before getting up, "I shall be back, you lot split into pairs and be ready when I return."

Hermione looked at Harry and Draco for a second, wondering if she could go with them as a third or if she should partner with Neville, when Pansy tapped her on the shoulder, "will you go with me?" the girl asked. Hermione thought about it for a second and then decided that if they were going to be friends they had to start somewhere, so she agreed. The others paired up quickly, and it wasn't long before the first two set off.

It was a smiling bunch of children that set off home, just before the family sat down for supper. The family now consisted of, the Granger's, who had moved in a month ago, after their house had been attacked. The wards had held up wonderfully and no damage was done, but once they were outside the property line there was no protection. Narcissa had insisted that they move in for her peace of mind. Whether the attack was done by Dumbledore or Death Eaters, no one was too sure, but they had their suspicions. Lucius and Narcissa, Severus, Remus, Sirius, Draco and Harry.

It had become habit for all of them to spend the weekends together, while the Malfoy's only spent time at their Manor during the week, to get some work done. Draco on the other hand was an almost permanent part of Potter Manor as the two now refused to sleep apart.

The night of the 31st of August found Harry and Draco curled up in bed, nervous about the next day. The fact that Sirius and Severus would be riding the train with them, as new instructors, helped a little, but Harry was also wondering about Dobby and Fawkes. "The rules say we can only have a toad, owl or cat," Harry said, causing Fawkes to trill loudly. "Really," Harry answered, "I didn't know that."

"What did he say Harry?" Draco asked.

"He said that familiars are allowed, because it puts a strain on the bond if they are not together. He also said that Dobby is allowed to come since I am head of my family and as such am entitled to a room of my own and my elf. They don't tell you that in Hogwarts a History."

"Does that mean we won't be able to share a bed at Hogwarts?" Draco asked as he held Harry a little bit tighter. Fawkes trilled again, causing Harry to smile.

"Fawkes says that we can, but in order to do so we have to tell everyone that I'm your mate, and since we grew up together, the bond has already started so it would be painful and cruel to separate us. Or something like that." Harry chuckled at the look of relief on Draco's face. "It wouldn't matter anyway Draco, Dobby would just pop you in and out."

"Let's get some sleep, we can talk about whether we are telling or popping tomorrow, with the family," Draco said before cuddling up in to Harry. The two boys snuggled in, and it wasn't long before both were sound asleep.

The following morning, Harry and Draco woke to an excited Hermione jumping up and down on their bed. "Mione, could you not do that, I have to pee," Harry groaned and shoved her slightly so he could get up to use the bathroom.

"Sorry Harry, but we go to Hogwarts today, I'm just so excited."

"We can see that," Draco mumbled as he too got out of bed, annoyed that the warmth and comfort of his mate was gone.

Harry and Draco got ready for the day and made it down to breakfast where Hermione and the others were waiting for them.

"We were wondering," Harry started, after everyone had eaten, "what we should do about the bond. Draco and I don't want to sleep apart, well really we can't anymore, and Fawkes said that since I'm the Head of the Potter line, that I get my own room and can have Dobby with me. Also that Draco can stay with me, but in order to do that we have to tell about the bond."

Lucius chuckled slightly, "you can stay in the same room without Dumbledore finding out about the bond. Professor Flitwick is your advisor, since Dumbledore is banned from any contact with you, so he is the only one that has to know. Since I take it you will all be in the same house," he paused and looked around the table as the children all nodded, "then the private room will be in that house."

Lucius had a sudden thought and cleared his throat gently, "Excuse us would you, I need to speak to Severus privately. He lead Severus to the office he used at Potter Manor and sat down, "Severus, I was just thinking about the houses, since Harry, Hermione and Neville were in Gryffindor before, and Luna is supposed to be in Ravenclaw next year, won't it unbalance the houses?"

Severus scratched his chin, thoughtfully, "I never considered that, but we still don't know if they will end up in Slytherin. Hermione could end up in Ravenclaw, Harry has the potential too as well, but will likely follow Draco, unless Hermione is alone in Ravenclaw then Harry will have to choose between the two, and you know Draco will throw a fit if he is not in Harry's house. I guess we will just have to wait and see, I'm sure it will balance itself out. Maybe a few of the Slytherin's from the alternate time line will go to Gryffindor and we can laugh at the irony."

It wasn't long after that the group apparated to Platform 9 and ¾ and what a sight they were. Harry Black Potter stood tall and proud with Dobby on one side, Draco on the other and a Phoenix on his shoulder, when a loud hoot filled the air and a beautiful snowy white owl soared down to land on Harry's other shoulder. All the adults who had seen the memories of Harry's past were stock still staring at the bird they recognised as Hedwig, Harry's faithful companion from the other time line.

Harry jerked slightly and looked at the owl now on his shoulder and smiled slightly, "well hello there beautiful, are you lost?" He absently stroked her chest while looking around to see if anyone had lost an owl. Dobby tugged on his shirt to get his attention and he looked down at his friend. But before Dobby could say anything, Harry's attention was again caught by the owl who started to make noise, that to others sounded like pyee pyee, but Harry heard words. I'm your owl, I waited for you to get me from that shop I was in, but you never came, so I came to find you." She made a sharp clicking noise at the end and nipped at his ear in displeasure at him not coming to find her in the first place.

Harry was shocked that this was happening, he had no idea what he was suppose to do. He looked at Fawkes who was watching the snowy owl with interest. "Two birds?" Harry questioned. Sirius, who had finally snapped out of his funk, stepped in, "I don't see why you can't have two birds, I'm sure Fawkes would be happy to not have to deliver your mail, unless it's an emergency." Fawkes made a gesture that if he were human would amount to a shrug, while Hedwig hooted.

"What do you think I should name her?" Harry asked. The adults all spoke at once saying the same thing, "Hedwig," which caused the children to giggle and the grown ups to blush slightly.

"Well I guess your name is Hedwig, do you like that?" Hedwig nodded her head at Harry and said, "yes that will be a fine name." "Okay then I guess I have two birds and an elf going to Hogwarts with me," he turned to look at Severus, "I wont get into trouble will I?"

"Of course not, every student is entitled to a owl, cat or toad," he replied, "Fawkes and Dobby don't count, since Fawkes is a familiar and Dobby is the personal elf of a Lord."

"Time to board the train," Narcissa said as she leaned down to hug her boys, while the other kids said goodbye to their parents. Then there was a mad scramble for the train to find a compartment. Dobby taking care of all of their luggage.

The train ride was pretty quiet, most of the time was spent reading, until they were interrupted by a red headed boy that tried to force his way into their compartment. Draco stood quickly, putting himself between Harry and the intruder. "What do you want?" he asked a little harshly. Harry giggled softly at his tone as did Hermione and Pansy, while Blaise and Neville stood with Draco and scowled at the red head.

"I heard Harry Potter was on the train and I wanted to meet him," the boy blurted out, which abruptly stopped Harry's laughter and his scowl matched his mates.

"I have no wish to meet people who only what to meet Harry Potter and not just Harry. You should leave." Harry responded and then turned to look out the window. He had never been so grateful for his real friends as he was at this moment. His family had told him that people would want to talk to him and be his friend just because of who he was, but he never understood why. To be famous for surviving the night your parents where murdered, was not something he was proud of.

The young boy turned as red as his hair and glanced around the room one more time before turning and leaving the compartment. Harry sighed when the door slid shut, "it's only going to get worse, isn't it?" he asked.

Draco sat down next to Harry and pulled him into a hug trying to relieve the tension and sadness in his mate. "Well, it doesn't matter what they think, because you know you have us and we love you for just being you." Draco stated with an air of importance, which he knew would make Harry laugh and he was right, Harry chuckled and then curled into Draco's embrace.

"Thanks, Draco," Harry murmured softly and then placed a kiss on Draco's check, causing the blonde to blush and smile.

Harry spent the rest of the train ride tucked into Draco's side, worrying about how everyone else was going to react to him. He hadn't liked the look in the red headed boys eyes, when he looked at Harry, it was almost like a hunger.

As the train pulled to a stop, Dobby shrunk and lightened all their trunks for them so the kids could carry them for themselves, something their parents had told them to do to avoid any interference by Dumbledore. Since Draco didn't bring any pets, Hedwig decided to ride on his shoulder, while Fawkes stayed perched on Harry's and Dobby refused to leave his side.

They heard a booming voice call out for the first years and made their way down the path following what could only be described as a giant. "That must be Hagrid," Draco whispered, "remember everyone telling us about him. He is the Grounds Keeper at Hogwarts."

"I remember," Harry whispered back, "he is very big, but he seems nice enough." Draco nodded but added, "remember what Dad said, he is very loyal to Dumbledore, so be careful what you say to him." Harry nodded and squeezed Draco's hand that he was holding. He was very nervous and glad that he had Draco to help calm him. It was one of the best things, Harry had decided, about being mated to a Veela, Draco loved Harry, not the power or the myth, just the boy. And he would be loyal and trustworthy to Harry through his whole life, without any ulterior motive.

They made their way to boats that were bobbing in the water, and Harry looked at Draco and sighed. "Why would they make us take boats in this weather, it's freezing." Fawkes trilled softly for a few moments, and Harry responded with a "ohhhhhhhh."

"What did he say Harry?" Draco always got annoyed when Harry spoke to animals, since he couldn't understand them yet. He hoped that after their bond was complete, that animal speech would be one of the abilities that they shared, since he knew that Veela and their mates, if strong enough, often shared their abilities with each other, to keep the pair safer and make them stronger.

"He said that it was to create an impression and that we would fully understand why when we saw it." Just as Harry had finished commenting, they rounded the bend and the castle came into view, and they knew it was true. It was a breathtaking sight, and the chatter increased as everyone commented on how truly beautiful it was, or how magnificent.

Everything passed in a blur and the sights and sounds around them became intense. Harry only came back to himself as they were lead into the hall to be sorted, and it was only because he felt a pair of eyes watch him intently. It made him extremely uncomfortable and he was afraid to look up, but he did and he squeezed tightly to Draco's hand as he felt something push at his mind. Fawkes trilled loudly and flapped, and Dobby brought up a shield around them. Professor Flitwick made his way quickly down to the boys, while Severus and Sirius sat at the head table, trying not to move, knowing that in the school, Flitwick needed to act.

"What happened Harry?" he asked, as he stood just outside the barrier Dobby had created.

"I don't know sir, it felt like someone was trying to force their way into my brain, it hurt so much, but dad already told me no one would be able to do that mind reading thing, Legi-something or other, because of the bonds I have with Fawkes, Dobby and Draco." He neglected to mention that the Goblins had made sure the children's minds were safe from prying.

Flitwick turned and glared at the headmaster, who pretended to be looking around the room, as if to find a perpetrator, before calling Severus and Sirius down to join him. "Severus, he is going to need a pain reliever potion, I think, it seems, 'someone' is trying to use legilimency on him." He said it loud enough to be heard around the hall and the gasps of shock were almost deafening.

Severus pulled a bottle out of his pocket and passed through the barrier without issues to hand it to Harry and watched him closely as he drunk it, the colour slowly returning to his face. "Well let's hope that the person responsible isn't stupid enough to try it again," Severus sneered and added, "right Headmaster."

"Quite right, Severus my boy," the Headmaster agreed, all the while seething on the inside. He should have remembered that Fawkes could block his masters thoughts.

Once the excitement died down the sorting started, with the hat singing a song about hope and change, and then names were called. Harry only listened for his friends, so was shocked when Draco started with a surprise squeak when some who were thought to be Slytherin, were sorted into Gryffindor, like Crabbe and Goyle, and one went into Hufflepuff.

"What does that mean?" Draco asked, a confused look on his face. Harry just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the sorting, and clapped when Hermione went to Slytherin. Neville followed suit, much to the headmaster's surprise, followed by Draco and Pansy. Then Harry was called, and he clutched Dobby's hand as he went to the stool, since everyone was staring at him and whispering his name.

"Just ignore the silly children, Master Harry," Dobby said and moved to the side and Professor McGonagall gestured for Harry to take a seat. He slid on to the stool and the hat was placed on his head, covering his eyes, which made Harry sigh with relief as his view of the hall disappeared.

"Nervous, Lord Black- Potter?" the hat asked and Harry shook his head slightly.

"No Sir, I just don't like to be stared at, I don't think anyone in their right mind would like everyone staring and talking about them."

"Too right, Harry," the hat replied. "Now let's see here, hrmm yes, very interesting, you would do will in all the houses Harry, but I can see where your heart lies, so it better be...

SLYTHERIN." There was silence in the Great Hall as Harry Potter was placed in Slytherin, for all of a second before Harry's friends clapped and cheered as he jumped off the stool and made his way to the table. Sirius and Severus had large smiles on their faces as they clapped softly themselves.


	12. First Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter.
> 
> Thanks to my Beta Taloolaph P and my prereader Green Gremlin. You guys are awesome in all the support you give me, I adore you both so much.

After the feast, which consisted of Harry leaning in to Draco, trying to relax, which was difficult with the constant feeling of eyes on him, and Dobby trying to get him to eat, they escaped the Great Hall as quickly as they could.

They were lead to the Common Room, given the password, and sat waiting for Severus to come in and give his speech. Harry could hardly pay attention, he felt utterly drained from the experience in the Great Hall, and annoyed at the fact that Dumbledore had tried to enter his mind. Fawkes had told him who it was and had stuck close to Harry since it happened. Harry yawned loudly, causing Severus to raise an eyebrow at him and Draco to pull him close so Harry could rest his head on the blond's shoulder.

"I think we should call it a night, Prefects please see the first years to their rooms, I will take care of Lord Potter and Mr Malfoy." Harry smiled at his Uncle in relief as he stood with the help of Draco and Dobby and followed Severus to their room.

As he entered the room Fawkes squawked loudly, extremely agitated and angry. Harry backed out of the room slowly as Dobby started to de-spell the room. "What's wrong Harry?" Severus and Draco asked at the same time.

"Fawkes found a number of spells lacing the walls and furniture and there are living portraits in all the rooms. Dobby is getting rid of the spells and the portraits and Fawkes is cursing the old man for his ignorance. He believes that Dumbledore should have known that Fawkes could detect this stuff."

"What kind of spells are there, Harry?" Severus said through clenched teeth.

"Fawkes says there are monitoring charms, listening charms, compulsion spells activated by touch, which is why I backed out of the room. He said the portraits are linked to his office so he can be told who is visiting me and why the are in my room, if he is not around to listen." Harry paused for a moment and gasped as he listened to Fawkes. "It seems there was always a hidden passage available to the Headmaster so he could enter my chambers any time he liked. Dobby has spoken to other house elves and they have told him that every House has a room set up like that. It seems he took no chances and made sure that what ever house I was in I was monitored. Dobby said Hogwarts house elves are clearing them up now."

"What can we do about this, Uncle Sev?" Draco asked, as he held on to Harry tightly.

"Has Dobby got rid of everything, is it safe for you to enter?" Severus asked. Harry nodded and slowly walked into the room.

"Dobby has cleaned out all the spells and wards and removed the portraits and has cast a series of protective wards around the rooms, and doors. Nothing that isn't keyed in is getting in here. We are safe now."

"Okay, you get settled in and I'm going to go called Lucius and see what he thinks about this, I will need to get Sirius..." He had no sooner said it than both men were standing in front of him, letting go of Dobby's hand.

"What's going on?" Lucius asked as Sirius looked around the room. They were both filled in on what had been found and both swore rather colourfully.

"He's started already and Harry has only just arrived. First the mind reading attempt and now this. Sneaky old bastard." Sirius muttered.

"I think it's time we gave him a warning face to face. Harry, Draco, stay here and make sure the doors are warded. Severus, Sirius, let us go see the Headmaster." Lucius said.

"Dobby already warded the place so we will be fine now, Uncle Luc," Harry said as the man hugged him. Hugs were given all round and the three men left while Dobby was quietly unpacking for the boys. He seemed rather pleased with himself that he had prevented any harm to his Master Harry, but totally angry that someone had tried to harm his precious Master.

"I'm so tired, Draco and this hasn't helped at all, I think I'm going to take a quick bath and then crawl into bed."

"Okay, I'll take a bath after you, I'm rather tired as well."

As the boys were getting cleaned and ready for bed, Severus, Sirius and Lucius made their way to the Headmaster's office. Once they reached the gargoyle, Lucius waved his hand in front of it and it jumped to the side. A lovely little fact he had discovered this time around that was in the power of the School Governors, was they had immediate access to the school at all times, especially in emergencies.

They were not surprised to find Filius already there, since they had sent an elf to instruct the Professor to meet them. As they settled themselves, Filius was the one to ask, "What seems to be the matter," he turned to glare at the Headmaster, "besides the little bit of mind reading that was tried during the feast."

"I have no idea who could have been so cruel as to try that on a child, but there was no need to worry, Fawkes would not allow someone to gain access to his bondeds mind," the Headmaster said with a wave of his hand and a twinkle in his eye.

All four men in the room snorted at that comment, and Sirius muttered, "you probably should have remembered that before you attacked my son." Dumbledore glared but chose to ignore that remark. Sirius was just happy that the old coot thought it was Fawkes and not that all the kids' minds had been protected by Goblin magic.

"What brings you all into my office at this time of night?" he asked as he popped a lemon sherbet into his mouth, that damned twinkle back.

"Oh, not much," Lucius drawled casually, flicking imaginary fluff off of his pants as he crossed his legs, "just the little matter of someone spelling Harry's private quarters with all sorts of nasties and putting portraits in every room on every available surface. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you, Headmaster." The last word was dragged out making it sound like a dirty word. Dumbledore glared briefly, his face going stony and his eyes hard, until he quickly rearranged his features. Though it was too late, everyone in the room caught the coldness on his face.

"That is not good at all. I hope that the boy is well and nothing untoward happened to him." Albus replied, rather snidely.

"Oh he is perfectly fine. Whoever keeps trying these things seems to forget how protected he is. He has a lot of people around him keeping him safe from attacks like these. He was warned and the spells deactivated and portraits removed before he even stepped foot into the rooms, which have now been rewarded to allow only those on the list entry." The Headmaster was fuming that his plans had been foiled, but he still had an ace up his sleeve. They had not mentioned the hidden tunnel.

"Well," he said, a smile on his face, "I'm glad that it was taken care of, you can never be too careful with the Saviour of the Wizarding world.

"He is not the Saviour of anything, and you would do well to remember that, Headmaster. That so called Prophecy has already been fulfilled, so everything that you had planned means nothing. Stop interfering, we know it was you who did all those things, even if we can't prove it. You will not get near him and if you keep trying we will have you thrown out of the castle quicker than you can say Saviour. Are we understood, Albus." Lucius spat out his name and then turned on his heels, the rest following him out. He stopped at the door and turned to face the Headmaster, "oh and that little tunnel you made, that's now gone too. Stay away from him." And with that they all left the office.

They heard the sound of things breaking as they made their way down the stairs, getting the old man so angry, he couldn't hold it in. Lucius and Severus smirked as they made their way past the gargoyle.

After checking in on the boys, who were cuddled together, tucked up in bed, they all went to bed, hoping tomorrow would be better.

Things progressed rather quickly after that, and the weeks flew by, as Harry and his friends attended classes and meals in the Great Hall and would use the boys' room to study and for peace and quiet. They enjoyed their lessons in Potions with Uncle Severus and Defence Against the Dark Arts, with Harry's dad the most.

Harry was getting to know a lot of new people from all different houses and he, Draco and Hermione were competing to hold the number one spot for the first years. All in all Harry was having fun, even though he could feel eyes on him most of the time. He was rather creeped out by it and was contemplating have Dobby and Fawkes follow him around again, the only thing stopping him was the fact it had taken a little over two months for Dobby to stop in the first place. He knew Fawkes didn't mind because the Phoenix could find him, all he had to do was call for him.

Lucius sat in his and Severus' office on a Sunday afternoon, with Sirius, to discuss plans for the upcoming years. They had gotten rid of Quirrell early, so they did not have much to worry about this year, other than Dumbledore's plots.

"Next year was the Chamber of Secrets being opened," Lucius said, "we will need to deal with that Basilisk."

"We can do that without endangering the boys, we just need Harry to open the entrance, and conjure a rooster. Problem solved there. Then maybe we can have a hunt around the Chamber and see if there is anything of value there, also get the Basilisk rendered for ingredients and maybe even some amour." Severus added.

"Third year we don't have to worry about, considering I wont be breaking out of Azkaban, speaking of Azkaban, has anyone noticed if Peter the rat is with the Weasley kid?" Lucius shook his head no. "With everything that we have been doing the last ten years, it seems we forgot to keep an eye on the Weasley's to see if they acquired a pet rat."

"I have not even looked, I have to say. It may be a good idea to check though, it's just a matter of getting into the Gryffindor rooms, Sirius you would have more luck there, just tell Minerva that you feel nostalgic. Though you may want to call Remus to come with you, you know so you don't kill anyone." Severus laughed at the affronted look on Sirius' face.

"I have learnt to control my base emotions, thank you very much," he replied snootily, "but I shall bring Remus." Severus and Lucius held back their laughter at that.

"So third year we just have to look out for anything unexpected, but four is what bothers me. If we want to get Voldermort into a body we need to let what happened before happen again. But it breaks my heart to have to put him through that, especially since we had originally decided not to let him compete in the tournament. And again how with all the changes we have made can it happen. Maybe we need to leave the rat alone until third year then scare the crap out of him and let him escape?"

"Also we could have Fawkes flash him out after his blood is taken, so that he doesn't get tortured by Voldermort. This sucks." Sirius said, he hated this more than anything. But if they changed things too much they would have no idea how to get Voldermort corporal.

"How many Horcruxes do we have now?"

"The diary, the cup and the locket, we also heard from the Goblins that a ring was found and destroyed, and Harry's has been destroyed. And then there was Ravenclaw's diadem, that Dobby found in the Room of Requirement, last month, after Harry had told him to find other things to do. That would be six. And the piece that came out of Quirrell is floating around would be the last piece, I think that's all of them." Severus said.

"If that is truly the case, then we can finally get rid of Voldermort, using the TriWizard Tournament, we just have to make plans." Lucius said, feeling rather excited at the prospect of finally being rid of the monster, so they could concentrate on Dumbledore.

"Another added bonus is that Dumbledore will do all the hard work for us, in getting Harry entered into the tournament. It is Draco we will have to worry about though, his Veela will be very close to the surface and it might even push an early inheritance if his mate is in danger. He would usually come into his Veela legacy at sixteen, he will be fifteen during the final task of the tournament, just over a month before Harry. It could be a huge problem."

"There isn't much we can do about it, we just have to make it a part of our planning." Sirius said, with a sigh. "I'm just glad we have a few years to work this stuff out."

The school year plodded along, and it was rather relaxed, except for the few attempts the Headmaster made at trying to manipulate Harry, all of which were shut down rather effectively by either Dobby, who had the Hogwarts house elves on side, or Fawkes.

By the time the leaving feast came around, Slytherin was in the lead for the House Cup, and Harry and his friends were all ranked in the top ten for the first years, much to the annoyance of the Ravenclaws. Even Neville was exceeding all expectations.

Severus was a little annoyed that Harry hadn't gotten onto the quiddich team but they knew the Headmaster would interfere with that so he begrudgingly had to wait till next year. It was one of the things he was really looking forward to, having Harry on the Slytherin team meant the cup was going to be with Slytherin house for a long long time. He felt a little bit sorry for Minerva, but it never lasted long, all he had to do was remember that she would have left Harry with the Dursleys too, given the chance.

The train ride was uneventful. Not even Ron Weasley tried to bother them this time. He had been put in his place often enough at school, which Dobby enjoyed doing. Harry thought his elf took too much pleasure out of annoying the boy. The only big thing that stood out during the year was Sirius confiscating his map back from the twins. They were caught between devastated at the loss of their treasure, to awe at being taught by an original Marauder. They had gotten close to Harry when they had discovered that not only was Sirius his new dad but James Potter had been a Marauder as well, to the twins, Harry was an offspring of legends.

Harry figured it was why Ron had all of a sudden stopped being such a douche bag, well that and Dobby's interference. Dobby seemed to be responsible for stopping a lot of the bullying against Slytherin first years. Harry was sure that having Fawkes helped a lot too.

While he had had an eventful first year, he was looking forward to being at home again.

When the train came to a screeching stop on platform 9 and ¾ Hermione was most anxious to get off. She had not seen her parents since Christmas and she missed them terribly. So she was rushing her friends along trying to get them to move faster. Dobby had taken Hermione, Draco and Harry's belongings straight back to Potter Manor before the train had even left the station, and Hedwig had decided to fly back herself, after she had preened Harry and told him to be safe. Fawkes had just flashed back to the Manor and was currently sleeping on his perch in Harry's favourite room.

Dobby forced Hermione to calm down, "it is not being safe for you to be rushing around like that Miss Grangy, you must be waiting for Dobby to make sure there is not danger." Hermione sighed before apologising to the little elf, and waited until Dobby said it was clear for them to leave. He walked in front of the group and had a protective bubble around them, just to be safe.

Neville, Pansy and Blaise were used to this, and quietly chuckled at all the people staring. Harry just took it in his stride and was oblivious to the attention as he, Draco and Hermione were in deep conversation about what they would do for the summer. The group had just made it onto the platform, and Hermione was waving at her parents, when they all stumbled as a strong wave of magic hit Dobby's shield. Squeals were heard throughout the station as people scattered, the next moment, Fawkes had flamed in and removed the adults from the scene, including Severus and Sirius, and Neville, Pansy and Blaise's families, while Dobby quickly popped the kids back to Potter Manor.

"What the bloody hell was that," Sirius screamed as he rushed over to where the children had popped into.

"No idea," Harry said, shaking slightly as Draco clung to him, "but whatever it was, was strong enough to almost pierce Dobby's shield, and thank Merlin he is so overprotective or who knows what would have happened."

"It was magics to knock out and transport, Master Harry, it would have made us all unconscious and taken us all in the blast radius to some place else," Dobby said as he clung to his Master Harry.

Hermione rushed to her parents arms and was crying from the shock of the attack, and the others were soon being hugged by their relatives. "What ever that was, you can be damned sure that I will get to the bottom of it," Augusta Longbottom stated while she held on to her grandson.

"The Auror's are at the train station investigating the attack now, and Cornelius and Amelia will be coming to see us to let us know what they found out as soon as they have the results," Lucius said as he strutted into the room, his face alight with anger. Narcissa in the mean time had taken the boys and was hugging them within an inch of their lives.

"Mother, I can't breath," Draco said as he tried to pull himself and Harry out of her grasp. The term Mother, from Draco, reminded Narcissa that they had company and she released the boys after one last squeeze and a kiss to both their foreheads, much to the boys embarrassment.

"Dobby can you get the children some hot chocolate and cookies," Narcissa asked, and Dobby popped off to get it and then settled the children down at the table. "Dipsy," she then called, and had the little elf bring her some tea for the adults, though Sirius soon asked for something stronger.

"I wonder if Dumbledore was stupid enough to try again," Lucius said as Severus closed the door to the room so the children couldn't hear them talking.

"It could have been some of his Order members, you know he has been telling them that Sirius and Remus have been brain washed by Death Eaters, even us parading down Diagon Alley with short sleeves, baring our arms has done little to dissuade the hard core believers of Dumbledores," Severus sneered as he made himself some tea with a generous splash of fire whiskey.

"Do you have names of these members," Amelia asked as she came through the door, catching the last part of the conversation. She knew damn well that they weren't Death Eaters, at least this time. She still had trouble associating the memories with the men that she knew in this time line.

"We are unsure of all of them, but we know a few names. Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Aberforth Dumbledore, Mundungus Fletcher, Minerva McGonagall, Alastor Moody, Sturgis Pudmore, Emmeline Vance, they are a few that we know of for sure, I think he will find it hard to recruit more members with all the articles that have come out about his deceit, but those are the ones we believe have stayed loyal to the man. We also believe he may be trying to recruit Aurors, such as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphdora Tonks, but we are certain that Tonks will not join him, but unsure of Shacklebolts loyalties." Severus said.

"I will make sure I keep an eye out for him, and the others that are in the Ministry. Moody can be dangerous and fanatical when he believes in a cause, he could be as big a problem as Dumbledore himself. We were unable to trace the magical signatures, since there was so much magic used on the platform after the initial attack, but we are pretty sure it was more than one assailant. We are just unsure whether it was the Order or Death Eaters."

"We have been keeping an eye on all the Death Eaters we remember, some have gone underground, but a few have tried to approach us and have been rebuffed so we could have been targeted by them. It's hard to tell who would do it, since both sides would not be opposed to hurting innocent people to achieve their goals."

"Well I am just glad Harry has such devoted family members and a very clear house elf." Cornelius said as he sipped his tea, "I am not sure anyone would be able to get close to the boy or his friends with that Dobby around," the Minister finished with a smile.

He had done a lot during his time as Minister in helping their cause, he had even made reform for Magical Creatures. Remus had all the rights of any other witch or wizard. It had taken years for Fudge to get the reforms passed, but with the help of Lucius and Sirius, that had been made law during the school year, and now Remus would be able to work anywhere. It just so happened that Binns was forced to 'retire' and they now needed a new History of Magic teacher."

They also have people watching Barty Crouch Snr. closely, making sure that Jnr. stayed were he was until he was needed for the TriWizard Tournament. They had argued for weeks about this, and gone back and forth until they had decided that the only way they could know for sure that Voldermort would show up and become corporal so they could end this, was if they let things play out, much to their own heartache. It was also another reason why they conveniently forgot about the rat.

The children spent their time speculating, while waiting on the adults to finish their conversation. "I wonder what Minister Fudge and Auror Bones found out?" Hermione asked as they watched the two enter the room the adults were holed up in. Harry shrugged his shoulders as he munched on a cookie, he loves Libby's cookies. Draco smiled at Harry before turning his attention to Hermione.

"Who knows, I'm just thankful for Dobby," he said smiling at the elf in question, who had just popped back in after putting away the boys and Hermione's things. He knew that either Tilly or Lolly would take care of it, but he liked to do most things for Harry.

"Dobby needs to be with his Master Harry at all times when he is out of Potter Manor." Dobby said before he popped away again to do who knew what. It had taken Dobby a while to leave Harry's side, the little elf found it easier to do so inside the wards of the Manor.

The rest of the holidays were pretty uneventful, since they kids were only allowed to move between Potter and Malfoy manor, and had to stay within the wards at all time. Harry and the others were wondering how they were going to get their school supplies from the Alley, but one thing was for sure, the children refused to stay home. This time they were going to get their own things.


	13. Time Moves On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, JKR is the genius behind Harry Potter.
> 
> Thanks to my Beta Taloolaph P and my prereader Green Gremlin. You guys are awesome in all the support you give me, I adore you both so much.
> 
> This chapter is really small, its like an interlude to the next part of the story.

Auror's were walking up and down the Alley in force, while the adults were staying close to the children as they shopped for their school supplies. Dobby was plastered in between Harry and Draco, a hand holding each of their robes securely, and a glowing shield surrounding all the children. Pansy and Hermione were chatting about classes while Neville and Blaise where smiling and shaking their heads. Severus and Lucius walked in front of them, and Sirius and Remus took up the rear all the while alert, in case someone would try to attack, yet again.

"It looks like the force we have come out with has put off any attempts..." Severus stopped abruptly as he looked at the crowd in front of the books store, and his eyes track the sign stating Gilderoy Lockhart would be signing books today.

As the adults became statues in front of them, the children stopped and turned to see what had garnered their attention. "What's so important about Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry asked as he moved to Severus' side.

"Did we not do anything about that?" Lucius asked as he pointed to the abomination of a man.

"I could have sworn we did, I don't understand, how can this be?" Severus said, trying to remember if they had indeed acted upon the plan they had for that man. "Sirius is still the Dark Arts teacher, correct?"

"Of course, that can not be changed without the boards approval, and there is no other position available in Hogwarts at this time. Plus the board has not been notified of any new staffing switches, which as you know Albus must do." They were brought out of their thoughts by a seething Narcissa, who had taken Beth to Flourish and Blotts while the boys took the children shopping. Beth's love of books was bigger than her daughters.

"Albus has decided to start a new duelling club at Hogwarts this year, for second years and above, and guess who is in charge of it?" Narcissa sneered.

"Can he do that, Lucius?"

"It would seem he can indeed do that, the board only took over the hiring of teaching staff, not for extra curricular clubs, an oversight on my part, it seems. I should not worry too much, between Dobby, Fawkes, Harry's friends and Sirius, Remus and you, Severus, Harry can be protected from that man, and the club is not mandatory, so the boys will just not sign up for it." Lucius said as he strolled over to the book store, when he noticed the children were about to enter.

Just as the adults reached the door, a loud bang was heard, followed by screams and shouts. Lucius looked behind him at the other adults quickly, before he threw the door open and ran into the store. What greeted him, made his stop dead in his tracks, his hand automatically going to his mouth as his brain comprehended what he was seeing, causing a loud snort to leave him, in a very UN-Malfoy like way, before he could suppress it.

The other adults seemed to be caught in with the same problem as they surveyed their surroundings. Lying on the ground, covered in what seemed to be a muddy like substance was a very red and spluttering Gildory Lockhart. Standing over him was a very angry and outraged elf, a screeching Phoenix had just joined the fray as the adults began to move.

The kids were standing around Harry, Draco in front of him, his face contorted into rage, as Harry stared in disbelief while shaking out his hand, and rubbing his wrist. That quickly brought the smiles from the adults faces as they rushed forward to find out what had happened.

"That things," Draco screeched, "grabbed Harry and pulled him so hard he broke his wrist." That was all they were able to get out of him, and Lucius was a little worried when he saw what appeared to be a fire ball trying to manifest in one of his sons shaking hands.

"Harry," Sirius asked as he looked him over checking to see for any injuries and was surprised when he couldn't find any.

"Fawkes healed me, Dad," Harry said, never taking his eyes off of the man that had grabbed him. He was kicking himself, because he had told Dobby to drop the shield so he could grab some books off the shelf, and then asked the elf to ask about a book he had been looking for but couldn't find. Dobby had been so reluctant to leave him, but he had promised the elf he would be fine in a crowded book store. Shaking his head, Harry just knew Dobby would never leave his side again, it had taken this long to get even a moments peace.

Harry reached out a hand and placed it on Draco's shoulder, he was surprised at how quickly the Veela had reacted. He had Lockhart on the ground and Harry behind him, before he could even blink, though the damage was already done. Neville had taken pictures of Harry's injuries before Fawkes had healed him, which was lucky. "For the lawyers and DMLE," he mumbled as he clicked away.

Draco relaxed slightly when he felt his mates hand on him, but he couldn't quiet stop the shaking that was going on. His insides felt like they were on fire, and he was having a very hard time trying not to kill the man laying on the floor. Deep down he understood it was the Veela in him reacting, but he was unsure how to deal with it. He shook his head quickly and looked at his father before turning around and burying his face in Harry's neck, inhaling his scent to calm him more. Harry returned the embrace and rubbed Draco's back in a hope of helping him. It was a very daunting experience, even though it had been over in seconds.

Something in the back of Harry's mind had shuddered and recoiled when he had heard and felt the snap in his wrist, and it made him feel helpless and alone. So he took comfort in his family surrounding him and in Draco's arms wrapping around him, reminding him of safety and home. He still wondered how his wrist had snapped so easily though, but he would discuss that later with his dad.

From the shadows an old man shook his head and mumbled to himself, "damn, that compulsion must have been too damn strong," before apparating away from the scene.

The family was, once again, sitting around the table at Potter Manor, Draco with his arm wrapped securely around Harry and Dobby plastered to Harry's other side. Fawkes was caught between laughing at Harry's predicament and being furious that his charge had been injured. All in all it seemed to be the same end as any time they ventured into Diagon Alley.

The adults were in the other room with Amelia Bones, they had taken the pictures from Neville with a grateful smile and praise at his forward thinking, and taken memories from each of the children of the event that took place. It was not long before Lockhart had been arrested and was awaiting trail for assaulting Harry Potter. Sirius could just see the headlines now, and couldn't stop the chuckling that left him.

"What's so funny, dad? Harry asked from between his cocoon.

"I was just thinking about the headlines and how the public will react to the fact golden boy Gilderoy attacked more popular boy-who-lived-to-save-them-all Harry potter." Harry groaned and dropped his head onto the table in a rather dramatic display as the rest of the group chuckled. Though Draco's hands did tighten slightly around Harry before he eased up.

Harry had seen Draco's struggle with the manifestation and let Draco crowd him, more than he usually would. He didn't think it would be healthy for Draco to manifest now, he knew it shouldn't happen until he went through his inheritance, but knew stress to protect his mate could bring it early. Though this was too early.

"Do you think there will ever be a day when someone is not trying to hurt, maim or kill me, Dad?" Harry asked, head still on the table. Draco's growl was expected as was everyone else's sharp inhale of breath.

"Of course, son, one day when we get rid of Tom Riddle and Dumbledore, you will be free to live your life and be happy. Maybe even go to Diagon Alley and actually have a fun day." Sirius grinned at Harry when he lifted his head to glare at his dad.

Brilliant, he thought, how long would it take before that would happen. But he had to remember that he was loved and protected and surrounded by family and friends. Life wasn't so bad.

Second year went on without too much fuss, the Headmaster seemed to keep his head down since his plans had failed before they had even began, and Harry, Draco and friends studied hard and had fun, though Harry was never left alone, not that he minded too much.

The end of the year came and went, without much fuss, and third year turned out to be much of the same, except no new teachers or clubs were brought into the mix. The Headmaster stayed out of their way which concerned the adults to no end. They could not figure out what his game plan was, to just sit back and watch, until the end of third year when they heard rumblings in the Ministry about the Tri-Wizard Tournament.


End file.
